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From  the  Unconscious 
to  the  Conscious 


BY 

Dr.  GUSTAVE  GELEY 

Director  of  the  Institut  Metar 
psychique  International 

Translated  from  the  French  by 
.S.  De  BRATH,  M.I.CE. 


With  a  Foreword  by 
J.  D.  BERESFORD 


HARPER  y  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

NEW    YORK    AND    LONDON 


FBOU  THB  UNCONSaOUS  TO  THE  CONSaOUS 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 

K-X 


TO 

SiGNOR  Professor  Rocco  Santoliquido, 

ITALIAN     COUNCILLOR     OF     STATE,     DEPUTY, 
GRAND  OFFICER  OF  THE  LEGION  OF  HONOUR, 

I    DEDICATE    THIS    BOOK 
WITH    RESPECT,    GRATITUDE   AND    AFFECTION 

G.  Geley 


INTRODUCTION 

To  many  people,  the  nineteenth  century  seems  to  be 
the  age  of  a  great  consummation.  In  the  course  of  that 
century,  the  material  sciences  were  freed  from  the 
shackles  that  had  held  them,  and  the  work  of  the  great 
pioneers,  Newton,  Franklin,  Kepler,  Lamarck,  and  the 
rest  was  developed  with  an  amazing  rapidity  and 
resource.  And  to  those  who  came  to  maturity  in  the 
last  decades  of  this  remarkable  period,  the  material 
sciences  still  appear  to  be  the  consummation  of  man- 
kind's intellectual  opportunity.  Just  as  our  forefathers 
opposed  and  sneered  at  the  coming  of  Science,  so  these 
representatives  of  the  great  materialistic  age  resent  and 
combat  the  greater  promises  of  our  own  time.  For  them 
Charles  Darwin  is  still  the  splendid  discoverer  of  man's 
origin  and  they  dread  the  coming  of  the  finer  and  more 
inclusive  theory  of  Being  which  will  turn  Darwin's 
Descent  of  Man  and  The  Origin  of  Species  into  interesting 
relics  of  an  old  and  superseded  mode  of  thought. 

For  as  the  earlier  reactionaries  were  powerless  to 
oppose  the  *  march  of  science '  so  will  these  conserva- 
tive scientists  of  our  own  day  be  borne  down  under  the 
mass  of  the  accumulating  evidence.  Darwin's  theory 
that  natural  selection  coupled  with  the  influences  of 
environment  were  the  sole  instruments  by  which  the 
process  of  physical  and  intellectual  evolution  were 
achieved,  has  failed  to  explain  the  facts.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  now,  a  newer  school  of  thought  has 
been  throwing  doubt  on  these  so-called  classic  factors 
of  evolution ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  the  work  of  Dr  Geley 
not  only  confirms  these  doubts  beyond  all  dispute,  but 


Introduction 

also— and  this  is,  indeed,  the  greater  achievement — 
gives  us  a  new  and  larger  theory  of  the  origin  and 
constitution  of  life. 

Of  the  content  of  the  present  work,  however,  I  do 
not  propose  to  speak  in  detail,  but  I  will  say  that  I 
have  found  in  it  the  evidences  of  a  new  classic.  I  believe 
that,  in  fifty  years'  time,  Dr  Geley's  From  the  Unconscious 
to  the  Conscious  will  be  looked  upon  as  bearing  the  same 
kind  of  relation  to  the  discoveries  of  the  twentieth 
century  that  Darwin's  Origin  of  Species  bore  to  the 
nineteenth.  This  may  sound  rather  an  extravagant 
claim  to  make,  but  if  Geley's  theory  is,  as  I  believe,  a 
true  one,  it  must  inevitably  revolutionise  our  knowledge 
both  of  biology  and  psychology,  and  may,  at  the  same 
time,  lay  the  foundations  of  a  world-wide  religion. 

And  we  must  remember  that  Dr  Geley  comes  before 
us  backed  by  the  authority  of  the  practical  scientist  and 
scholar.  His  medical  works  have  already  brought  him 
a  measure  of  fame,  both  in  the  study  of  local  anaesthetics 
and  of  the  new  method  of  treating  such  specifically 
eruptive  diseases  as  smallpox,  erysipelas,  and  scarlatina. 
He  is  not  a  *  spiritualist,*  he  refuses  to  identify  himself 
with  any  particular  school  of  thought,  but  an  original 
researcher.  He  was  chosen  by  scientific  men  of  the 
highest  standing  and  repute,  such  as  Professor  Charles 
Richet  and  Camille  Flammarion,  to  be  the  Director  of 
the  International  Metapsychical  Institute  in  Paris.  In 
short,  Dr  Geley  is  not  some  impetuous  theorist  rushing 
into  print  with  a  premature  hypotheiis,  but  a  patient, 
unprejudiced  investigator,  whose  sole  aim  is  the  search 
for  truth. 

J.  D.  BERESFORD. 


TRANSLATOR'S    NOTE 

In  the  opening  chapter  of  the  Origin  of  Species  Darwin 
states  that  the  *  variabiUty,'  on  which  selection  and 
adaptation  have  to  work,  *  is  governed  by  many  unknown 
laws.* 

In  translating  a  book  which  fills  this  gap  in  the 
Evolutionary  Theory  by  assigning  a  psychic  cause  as 
the  origin  of  Variation  (thus  traversing  the  arguments 
of  later  biologists  who  refer  that  origin  to  chance  or  to 
the  pressure  of  the  environment) ;  a  book  which  modifies 
the  conclusions  of  many  schools  of  thought,  both  new 
and  old;  which  replaces  Bergson's  famous  elan  vital 
by  a  concrete  energy,  and  defines  that  energy  as  an 
influence  forming  all  the  varieties  of  cellular  tissue  out 
of  one  primordial  substance,  and  moulding  those  tissues 
into  organic  form  under  the  impulsion  of  a  Directing 
Idea,  the  translator  has  a  most  responsible  task. 

One  duty,  and  one  only,  lies  upon  him — to  be 
faithful  to  the  author's  meaning.  No  attempt  at  literary 
finish  can  palliate  or  excuse  the  slightest  departure  from 
that  duty  in  a  work  which,  however  scientific  in  essence, 
is  necessarily  somewhat  controversial  in  form.  When 
to  this  duty  there  are  added  the  obligations  which  the 
honour  of  personal  friendship  involves,  faithfulness  in 
rendering  the  idea  becomes  doubly  imperative.  To 
this  all  other  considerations  must  give  place. 

The  Italian  adage,  *  Traduttori — traditori,*  is  one 
which  the  translator  must  ever  bear  in  mind  if  he  would 
not  be  a  traitor  also.  He  has  therefore  kept  a  number 
of  words  which,  though  used  by  classical  English  writers 
on  philosophy,  may  seem  more  or  less  uncouth  and 
foreign  to  those  who  are  unfamiliar  with  such  authors. 
It  is  quite  inevitable  that  a  book  which  presents  an 
entirely  new  application  and  extension  of  psychology 

vii 


Translator's  Note 

should  compel  the  use  of  a  terminology  which  some  may 
find  obscure. 

*  Psychism,*  *  Dynamo-psychism,*  *  Representation,* 
*  Transformism,*  are  words  of  this  kind,  and  are  all 
used  to  express  ideas  which,  even  when  not  absolutely 
new,  are  strange  to  the  unaccustomed  ear. 

*  Psychism  '  is  a  word  which  is,  or  should  be,  well- 
known;  meaning  the  animating  psychic  energy  which 
is  the  subject-matter  of  psychology. 

*  Dynamo-psychism  *  is  considered  cumbrous,  but 
what  other  word  is  there  that  expresses  a  psychic  energy 
acting  as  forming  and  motive  power  }  It  is  of  the  very 
essence  of  the  theory  put  forward. 

*  Representation  '  in  ordinary  use,  means  the  delinea- 
tion of  an  actuality  existing  elsewhere :  the  philosophical 
sense  is  the  same,  but  the  actuality  is  in  the  Unseen; 
the  representation  is  in,  and  by.  Matter,  Energy,  or 
Idea.  It  is  used  by  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton  {Logic),  by 
G.  H.  Lewes,  by  Herbert  Spencer,  and  by  J.  Ward 
(Encycl.  Brit.)  in  this  way. 

*  Transformism,'  i.e.  the  doctrine  of  transforma- 
bility  of  individuals  or  species,  is  used  by  Huxley. 
(Crayfish.) 

*  Palingenesis  *  is  used  in  its  correct  meaning 
(rAw  s=  again  -f-  yiveffti  =  production),  a  new  or  second 
birth:  the  equivalent  *  reincarnation  *  has  been  spoiled 
by  those  who  ignore  the  profound  distinction  between 
the  Person  and  the  Self,  and  has  been  intentionally 
avoided  by  the  author. 

*  Modality '  is  used  as  it  is  by  Caird,  in  the  logical 
sense  of  modes  hypothetically  necessary  on  the  pre- 
supposition of  something  else.  The  list  might  be 
extended:  but  in  every  case  where  a  word  seems  to 
carry  an  unusual  meaning,  reference  has  been  made  to 
standard  authors  for  its  justification. 

S.    DE    BrATH. 

Weyb RIDGE,  February,  1920. 

viii 


PREFACE 


OBJECTS  AND  METHOD 


This  work  is  the  logical  sequel  to  my  study  of  The 
Subconscious  Being.  Its  intention  is  to  include  both 
collective  and  individual  evolution  in  a  larger  and  more 
complete  synthesis.  Its  form  is  governed  by  the  same 
procedure  :  to  express  the  ideas  with  the  utmost 
simplicity,  the  greatest  clarity  and  conciseness  that 
may  be  possible;  to  avoid  lengthy  analyses  and  develop- 
ments; and  above  all  to  put  aside  easy  digressions  of 
an  imaginative  or  poetical  character. 

My  primary  aim  was  to  make  the  work  a  synthesis, 
and  this  synthesis  should  be  considered  as  a  whole, 
without  reference  to  details  which  have  been  omitted 
or  intentionally  set  aside.  In  fact,  an  exhaustive  study 
of  any  single  one  of  the  questions  treated  would  be  a 
life  work,  but  this  is  for  those  who  devote  themselves 
to  analysis,  and  I  leave  it  to  them;  my  purpose  is 
different,  it  aims  at  the  ideal  quest  of  a  wide  philosophical 
generalisation,  based  on  facts. 

Obviously  such  a  philosophy,  in  the  actual  state 
of  human  knowledge  and  consciousness,  can  claim  to 
be  no  more  than  an  endeavour,  a  sketch,  or  as  it  might 
be  called,  a  general  plan,  in  which  only  main  outlines 
and  a  few  details  are  clearly  drawn. 

Necessarily  incomplete,  this  philosophy  cannot  claim 
to  be  entirely  original.  Most  of  the  solutions  proposed 
are  naturally  to  be  found  here  and  there,  more  or  less 
sharply  defined  and  more  or  less  varied,  in  other  natural- 
istic or  metaphysical  systems. 

The  general  idea  of  this  work  is  that  which  has 

ix 


Prejace 

inspired  most  of  the  great  metaphysical  systems,  and 
finds  its  clearest  and  most  concrete  presentment  in  the 
works  of  Schopenhauer.  Its  premises  are  the  same; 
but  the  developments  and  the  conclusions  are  totally 
different;  my  endeavour  has  been  to  bridge  the  chasm 
that  Schopenhauer  leaves  between  the  Unconscious 
and  the  Conscious.  Thence  follows  an  entirely  different 
interpretation  of  the  evolution  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  universe.  This  interpretation,  instead  of  leading 
to  pessimism,  leads,  I  will  not  say  to  optimism  (the 
term  being  loose  and  questionable),  but  to  the  abiding 
ideal  of  Humanity,  an  ideal  which  is  built  on  its  highest, 
calmest,  and  most  lasting  hopes  of  justice,  of  joy,  and 
of  individual  persistence. 

But  the  real  originality  of  the  idealist  philosophy 
here  outlined,  the  only  originality  that  is  claimed,  is 
that  //  is  scientific.  Unrestricted  by  dogmatic  or  mystical 
forms,  and  resting  on  no  a  priori  or  intuitional  formulae, 
it  is  based  on  positive  demonstration.  It  is  on  the 
ground  of  scientific  philosophy,  and  on  this  ground  alone, 
that  this  work  should  be  studied  or  discussed. 

To  build  up  my  demonstration  I  have  endeavoured 
to  take  account  of  all  known  facts  whether  in  the  natural 
sciences,  in  general  biology,  or  in  admitted  data  relating 
to  the  physiological  and  psychological  constitution  of 
the  individual  man.  In  the  choice  of  the  main  explana- 
tory hypotheses  I  have  sought  those  which  present  the 
double  character  of  being  logical  deductions  from  facts, 
and  adaptable  to  all  the  facts  of  a  group.  My  constant 
aim  has  been  to  reach  wider  and  more  comprehensive 
generalisations,  until  there  should  issue,  if  possible,  a 
hypothesis  sufficiently  wide  and  general  to  present  a 
single  interpretation  of  the  evolution  of  the  individual 
and  of  the  universe. 

This  general  method  is  scarcely  open  to  criticism. 
But  I  have  been  led,  little  by  little,  by  the  subject-matter, 
to  adopt  at  first  tentatively,  and  then  systematically,  a 


Preface 

method  of  treatment,  secondary  indeed  but  still  important, 
concerning  which  it  is  necessary  to  enter  into  some  detail. 

In  considering  the  different  biological  and  psycho- 
logical sciences,  and  in  studying  the  inductions,  deduc- 
tions, and  received  hypotheses  founded  on  their  data 
and  accepted  by  most  contemporary  men  of  science, 
I  was  struck  by  serious  and  obvious  errors  due  to  a 
tendency  to  forget  of  the  general  method  of  treatment 
above  referred  to. 

There  is  no  single  one  of  the  main  academic 
hypotheses  on  evolution,  on  the  physical  or  psychological 
constitution  of  the  individual,  or  on  life  and  conscious- 
ness, which  is  capable  of  adaptation  to  all  the  facts  of 
evolution,  of  physiology  or  of  psychology;  nor,  a  fortiori^ 
is  there  one  which  can  embrace  general  and  individual 
".volution  in  a  synthetic  whole. 

Further,  most  of  these  hypotheses  are,  as  I  shall 
demonstrate,  certainly  in  opposition  to  at  least  some 
well-established  facts. 

In  seeking  the  first  origin  and  cause  of  these  errors 
in  generalisation  I  have  been  led  to  discover  them 
pre-eminently  in  the  choice  of  the  primary  facts  on  which 
the  framework  of  contemporary  scientific  philosophy 
is  based. 

In  all  sciences,  and  especially  in  biology  and 
psychology,  facts  selected  with  a  synthetic  conclusion 
in  view,  may  lead  to  antagonistic  method,  and  con- 
sequently to  concepts  which  may  be  divergent  or 
even  opposed.  Two  principal  methods  may  be  out- 
lined, each  resulting  from  the  selection  of  primary 
facts. 

The  first  of  these  methods  starts  from  the  principle 
that  science  should  always  proceed  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex.  This  method,  therefore,  takes  as  its 
point  of  departure  the  most  elementary  facts,  endeavours 
to  understand  them,  then  passes  on  to  rather  more 
complex  facts  of  the  same  order,  applying  to  them  the 

xi 


Preface 

explanatory  formula  derived  from  an  exhaustive  study 
of  the  simpler,  and  so  onwards  from  the  base  to  the 
summit. 

The  second  starts  from  the  principle  that  for  any 
given  order  of  facts  there  can  be  no  true  explanation 
which  is  not  capable  of  application  to  all  the  facts  of 
that  order.  This  method  seeks  first  for  an  explanation 
capable  of  covering  the  most  complex  phenomena;  and 
this  being  easily  extended  a  fortiori^  to  the  simpler  and 
lower  ones,  will  necessarily  be  conformable  to  all  the 
available  data. 

This  method  thus  proceeds  from  the  summit  to 
the  base. 

It  frequently  happens,  we  must  concede,  that  the 
second  method  ends  in  an  impossibility.  It  will  do 
so  whenever  the  data  of  fact  are  insufficient.  It  must 
then  be  admitted  to  be  inapplicable,  and  should  be 
held  in  reserve,  disregarding  minor  points  in  which 
it  may  be  satisfactory,  such  details  being  necessarily 
inadequate  as  a  basis  of  reasoning  since  they  refer  to 
only  one  aspect  of  the  problem. 

Of  these  two  methods,  the  former  being  primarily 
analytic,  pertains  to  pure  science.  The  second,  primarily 
synthetic,  pertains  to  pure  philosophy. 

Now  when  questions  arise  which  pertain  both  to 
philosophy  and  to  science,  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
which  of  these  two  methods  should  be  adopted. 

Once  a  general  truth  has  been  established  it  matters 
little  whether  the  explanation  of  different  phenomena 
leading  to  a  known  conclusion  starts  from  the  base  or 
the  summit;  the  line  of  synthesis  being  known,  it  is 
not  possible  to  stray.  But  when  the  task  before  us  is 
to  ascertain  truth  and  to  establish  a  synthesis,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  choose  and  to  consider  with  care  which 
m^ethod  is  likely  to  prove  the  more  sure  and  fruitful 
of  results.  The  first  method  is  the  one  almost  exclusively 
employed  as  the  foundation  for  current  theories.     Its 

xii 


Preface 

use  follows  on  an  unquestioned  dogma  of  contemporary 
science.  Before  deciding  which  method  to  employ,  let 
us  now  look  somewhat  closely  at  some  of  the  established 
results  to  which  this  method  has  actually  led. 

In  a  philosophic  study  of  the  phenomena  of  life, 
if  we  proceed  from  the  apex  to  the  base,  from  man  to 
the  superior  animals,  and  from  them  to  inferior  types, 
we  are  constrained  to  admit  that  Consciousness  is  that 
which  is  most  important  in  all  life,  because  it  is  that 
which  is  most  important  in  man.  We  are  then  led  to 
discover  that  consciousness,  with  all  that  it  implies, 
extends,  with  a  narrowing  field,  down  to  the  least 
evolved  animals,  in  which  it  exists  merely  in  outline. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  we  proceed  from  the  base  to 
the  summit,  the  conclusion  that  we  draw  from  the 
phenomena  of  life  is  an  opposite  one.  It  is  the  con- 
clusion that  Le  Dantec,  among  others,  has  endeavoured 
to  bring  out.^ 

The  chemical  reactions  of  their  environment  suffice 
to  determine  the  vital  phenomena  of  animals  very  low 
down  in  the  scale.  The  '  ascending  *  method  therefore 
permits  of  the  affirmation  that  in  all  the  phenomena 
of  life,  even  those  of  the  superior  animals,  it  is  use- 
less to  seek  for  anything  but  the  result  of  chemical 
reactions.  Even  the  specific  form  of  an  animal  is  for 
Le  Dantec,  as  we  shall  see,  merely  a  function  of  these 
reactions. 

The  plastidia  show  rigid  chemical  determinism, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  attribute  to  them  either  will 
or  liberty  of  action.  It  would  follow  that  bio-chemical 
determinism  is  the  same  in  the  entire  animal  series; 
and  will  or  liberty,  even  in  man,  is  but  illusion. 

The  notion  of  an  animal  consciousness  is  superfluous 
for  the  plastidia;  if  therefore  it  exists  for  superior 
animals   it   can    be   only   an    epiphenomenon  *   resulting 

*  L«  Dantec  :   DSterminisme  Biologique. 
?A  sequential  or  a  secondary  phenomenon. 

xiii 


Preface 

from   the  chemical   reactions   which   are  the  essential 
phenomena. 

In  fine,  as  according  to  all  evidence,  animals  as  low 
in  the  scale  as  the  sponges  and  the  corals,  are  but  a 
mere  complex  of  elementary  lives,  the  inference  follows 
that  even  a  very  complex  and  highly  evolved  animal 
apparently  highly  centralised,  is  but  an  analogous 
complex,  existing  and  maintaining  itself  by  affinity  or 
molecular  cohesion,  without  the  aid  of  a  superior  and 
independent  dynamism. 

Such  is  the  reasoning  and  such  are  the  conclusions 
of  the  *  ascending  *  method.  Are  these  conclusions 
true  or  false  ? 

The  reasoning  is  rigorous  and  flawless.  If  the 
conclusions  are  false,  it  can  only  be  that  the  method  is 
bad. 

We  shall  see  by  all  that  follows  in  the  present  work, 
that  in  spite  of  the  rigour  of  the  reasoning,  the  results 
of  the  method  are  such  as  cannot  be  accepted,  and  are 
often  absurd. 

It  is  easy  to  establish  this  without  going  outside 
the  domain  of  biology.  As  an  example  of  an  induction 
at  once  absurd  and  inevitable  from  the  ascending  method, 
take  sensibility. 

We  know  by  experience  that  we  possess  sensibility. 
We  infer  that  sensibility  pertains  to  humanity.  Taking 
this  apex  as  our  point  of  departure,  we  judge  that 
superior  animals  also  possess  this  sensibility  because 
their  manifestations  of  pain  or  pleasure  resemble  our 
own. 

If  we  descend  the  animal  scale,  the  manifestations 
are  less  defined,  and,  in  the  lower  animals,  are  of  doubtful 
interpretation. 

*  The  signs  of  pain,*  says  Richet,*  *  do  not  suffice 

for  the  affirmation  that  there  is  pain.     When  the  foot 

of  a  decapitated  frog  is  pinched,  the  animal  struggles 

>  Richet :    Psychologie  Gin^aU, 

xiv 


Preface 

with  all  the  external  signs  of  pain,  just  as  if  it  were 
suffering.  When  an  earthworm  is  cut  in  two  both 
pieces  move  convulsively.  Are  we  to  say  that  both  are 
suffering,  or  what  appears  to  me  much  more  rational, 
rather  to  think  that  the  traumatism^  has  set  up  a 
violent  reflex  action  }  * 

Therefore  if  we  attribute  sensibility  to  animals  low 
in  the  scale,  it  is  by  a  descending  induction.  Our 
reasoning  goes  from  the  summit  to  the  base. 

Let  us  proceed  inversely  :  if,  setting  aside  our  own 
personal  experience,  we  consider  the  very  inferior  animals, 
we  shall  be  logically  obliged  to  deny  them  sensibility, 
since  all  their  reactions  can  be  explained  by  reflexes. 
Sensibility  to  pleasure  or  pain  is  for  them  an  unnecessary 
hypothesis,  and  conformably  to  the  principle  of  method- 
ology known  as  economy  of  hypothesis,  it  should  be 
put  aside. 

But  then,  why  admit  this  sensibility  in  the  highest 
animals  ?  Here  also  everything  can  be  explained  by 
reflexes.  As  Richet  observes,  the  yelp  of  a  beaten  dog, 
may,  strictly  speaking,  be  only  a  reflex  movement  1 
And  this  reasoning  is  not  absurd,  since  it  is  Cartesian. 
Nevertheless,  pushed  to  the  negation  of  human  sensi- 
bility it  becomes  untenable.  It  impels  us  to  place  man, 
as  did  Descartes,  outside  animal  life;  which  is  evidently 
a  gross  and  dangerous  mistake. 

Thus  the  method  which  consists  in  starting  from 
the  base  in  order  to  explain  one  of  the  essential  vital 
principles  is  convicted  of  flagrant  error.  It  is  therefore 
under  suspicion  for  all  the  rest.  No  doubt  it  will  be 
objected  that  the  contrary  method  may  also  lead  us 
astray:  as,  for  instance,  says  Le  Dantec,^  'the  famous 
observation  of  Carter,  in  which  an  amoeba  lay  in  wait 
for  a  young  Acineta  about  to  detach  itself  from  the 

*  Traumatism — the  state  of  being  wounded. 

!  Le  Dantec :  Le  Diterminisme  Biologiqus, 
XV 


Preface 

maternal  body.  The  Acineta  is  a  protozoon  armed  in 
its  adult  state  with  venomous  tentacles  particularly 
dangerous  to  the  amoeba;  but  these  tentacles  are  not 
found  on  the  young  Acineta,  and  the  amoeba  observed 
by  Carter  knew  that  the  young  one  about  to  leave 
the  maternal  body  would  be  eatable  during  the  early 
days  of  its  existence.* 

The  error  is  comical:  but  every  one  must  see  that 
it  is  entirely  insignificant  from  the  philosophic  point 
of  view,  and  disappears  automatically  before  the  new 
knowledge  relating  to  instinct.  This  error,  bearing 
only  on  a  point  of  detail,  does  not  in  any  way  attaint  the 
descending  induction  which  allows  a  relative  conscious- 
ness to  all  animal  life.  Even  if  the  extension  of  the 
induction  to  the  lower  animals  were  arbitrary,  it  would 
have  no  importance:  there  is  no  serious  drawback  in 
attributing  to  them,  even  arbitrarily,  rudimentary  con- 
sciousness and  sensibility. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  errors  of  the  ascending 
method  are  flagrant,  since  they  would  go  so  far  as  to  deny 
that  consciousness  and  sensibility  to  superior  animals! 
The  justice  of  Auguste  Comte's  remark  is  evident :  *  As 
soon  as  we  are  dealing  with  the  characteristics  of  animal 
life,  we  ought  to  take  Man  as  our  starting  point,  and 
see  how  his  characteristics  lower  in  the  scale  little  by 
little,  rather  than  start  from  the  sponge  and  seek  how 
they  develop.  The  animal  life  of  man  helps  us  to 
understand  that  of  the  sponge,  but  the  converse  is  not 
true.* 

Passing  from  biology  to  psychology,  let  us  consider, 
for  instance,  the  phenomena  attributed  to  subconscious- 
ness which  will  have  so  large  a  place  in  the  present  work. 
There,  more  than  anywhere  else,  the  contrast  between 
the  two  methods  will  be  manifest. 

In  a  study  which  appeared  in  the  Annates  des  Sciences 
Psychiques  I  recommended  the  synthetic  method  as 
applicable   to    the    philosophy   of  the    phenomena   of 

xvi 


Preface 

subconsciousness.  I  endeavoured  to  show  that  only 
the  study  of  the  more  complex  phenomena  would  admit 
of  a  generalisation ;  while  a  study,  however  profound,  of 
the  elementary  phenomena  would  always  remain  incapable 
of  leading  to  any  clear  view  of  the  whole.  I  concluded 
that  from  the  specially  philosophic  standpoint,  the  study 
and  comprehension  of  the  higher  phenomena  alone  can 
be  of  capital  importance.^ 

This  statement  of  methodology  has  brought  on  me 
some  lively  attacks,  especially  from  M.  Boirac* 

M.  Boirac  affirms,  as  Le  Dantec  does  with  regard 
to  biological  phenomena,  that  one  should  study  and 
interpret  from  the  base  to  the  summit,  first  dealing 
with  elementary  phenomena  and  then  with  those  more 
and  more  complex. 

In  support  of  his  idea  he  adduces  the  following 
analogy:  to  seek  to  understand  the  higher  subconscious 
phenomena  before  understanding  the  elementary  ones 
IS  as  illogical  as  to  seek  to  understand  the  phenomenon 
of  globular  lightning  before  grasping  elementary  electrical 
principles. 

To  this  I  might  reply  that  it  is  one  thing  to  study 
electrical  phenomena  and  even  to  apply  them  practically, 
and  quite  another  to  understand  the  essential  nature  of 
electricity.  Our  understanding  of  electricity,  that  is 
our  philosophical  comprehension  of  it,  rests,  and  will 
continue  to  rest,  on  provisional  hypotheses  until  we  have 
understood  its  most  complex  manifestations. 

Further,  nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  oppose  one 
analogy  to  another!  Here  is  one  which  I  borrow  from 
J.  Loeb  : — 

*  It  is  expressly  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  in  all  matters  concerning 
the  subconscious,  the  elementary  and  the  complex  phenomena  are  equally 
unexplained.  Whichever  we  take  as  our  point  of  departure,  we  proceed 
from  the  unknown  to  the  unknown.  The  Cartesian  principle  therefore 
cannot  be  advanced  against  our  method. 

*  Boirac :  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques,'  and  L'Avenir  des  Etudes 
Psychiques. 

xvii  ■ 


Preface 

*  Physicists  are  lucky  never  to  have  known  the 
method  of  sections  and  dyes.  What  would  have 
been  the  result  if  by  chance  a  steam  engine  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  histological  physicist  ? 
What  thousands  of  sections  horizontal  and  vertical, 
stained  in  various  ways,  how  many  diagrams  and 
figures  might  have  been  made,  without  arriving  at 
an  indubitable  conclusion  that  the  machine  is  a 
heat  engine  and  is  used  to  transform  heat  into 
motion  1  *     (Quoted  by  Dastre.) 

This  comparison  places  the  characteristics  of  the 
two  methods  in  a  strong  light. 

The  method  of  restricted  analyses  and  profound 
study  of  details  is  extremely  useful  in  scientific  research, 
but  is  without  philosophical  value.  The  method  of 
general  synthesis  is  the  only  one  suitable  to  scientific 
philosophy  for  it  alone  can  bring  out  what  is  really 
important  in  a  given  order  of  facts.  The  boiler  and  the 
motor  mechanism  are  the  truly  important  parts  in  the 
steam-engine.  W^hen  this  mechanism  has  been  under- 
stood there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
part  played  in  the  accessory  details,  the  wheels  and  the 
brakes.  But  it  would  be  folly  to  seek  to  understand 
the  locomotive  by  a  study,  however  complete,  of  a 
detached  bolt  or  the  spoke  of  a  wheel! 

Psychologists  who  rest  in  the  systematic  study  of 
small  facts  are  obviously  like  to  the  *  histological 
physicists  * :    both  end  in  similar  impotence. 

I  conclude:  From  the  philosophical  point  of  view, 
(the  one  to  which  I  confine  myself)  and  in  a  given 
order  of  facts,  only  the  comprehension  of  the  higher 
facts  is  important,  for  it  includes,  a  fortiori^  that  of  all 
others.  Consequently  the  descending  method  only, 
starting  from  those  higher  facts,  is  the  fruitful  one. 

Moreover,  we  judge  the  tree  by  its  fruit:  it  is,  as 
we  shall  see,  by  that  method  alone  that  all  the  phenomena 

xviii 


Preface 

of  life  and  consciousness,  all  collective  and  individual 
evolution,  and  even  the  meaning  of  the  universe,  can 
be  understood. 

By  the  analytical  and  ascending  method,  on  the 
contrary,  we  reach  nothing  but  the  serious  errors  in 
generalisation  which  have  vitiated  all  contemporary 
philosophy,  if,  indeed,  we  do  not  lose  ourselves  in  an 
unmeaning  verbalism. 

In  seeking  to  draw  general  conclusions  from  elemen- 
tary phenomena  we  are  driven  to  deny  sensibility  to 
animals  and  to  reduce  consciousness  to  an  epiphenom- 
enon.  By  taking  minor  hypnotoid  or  hysteriform 
manifestations  as  our  starting  point  in  the  study  of 
psychological  facts,  we  end  by  reducing  the  whole  of 
subconscious  psychology,  even  the  highest,  to  automatism 
or  suggestibility. 

Worse  still,  by  blind  fidelity  to  a  barren  method, 
some  very  fine  minds  are  doomed  to  impotence,  and 
waste  their  time  and  trouble  in  inventing  or  changing 
mere  labels;  and  failing  to  capture  the  general  idea 
they  fall  back  on  the  invention  of  *  Pythiatism  *  or 
'Metagnomy  '*   .  .  . 

The  method  here  chosen  offers  two  essential  criteria 
as  guides — one  critical,  the  other  practical. 

The  critical  criterion  will  permit  us  to  consider  as 
false  and  to  reject  without  further  examination,  every 
explanation  or  hypothesis  which  in  a  connected  order 
of  facts,  is  adapted  to  a  part  only  of  these  facts,  and  not 
to  all,  especially  to  the  more  complex. 

The  practical  criterion  will  prescribe  the  systematic 
and  immediate  study  of  the  highest  and  most  complex 
in  any  given  order  of  connected  facts. 

Whether  the  matter  in  hand  be  universal  evolution 
and  naturalistic  theories,  physiological  or  psychological 
individuality,  or  even  questions  of  high  philosophy,  we 

^Pythiatism :  pertaining  to  the  Pythian  Apollo.    Metagnomy :   (from 
Gr.  yv(i>M-Vi  thought) =beyoud  thought. 

xix 


Preface 

shall  therefore  begin  by  first  attacking  the  more  complex 
facts,  these  being  really  the  only  important  ones ;  putting 
aside  for  the  moment  the  mere  trivialities  of  elementary 
and  simple  facts,  which,  in  the  sequel,  will  explain 
themselves. 

Instead  of  plodding  through  this  dust  of  elementary 
facts  which  by  beclouding  our  ascent,  retard  it,  we 
shall  advance  to  the  heights,  from  whence,  after  a  wide 
view  over  the  whole  accessible  area,  we  may  descend 
at  leisure  to  explore  local  particulars. 

The  present  work  falls  naturally  into  two  principal 
parts  : — 

Book  I.  is  a  critical  study  of  the  classical  theories 
relating  to  evolution,  to  physiological  individuality,  to 
psychological  individuality,  and  to  the  principal  evolu- 
tionary philosophies,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  forecast 
of  the  essential  inductions  of  Book  II. 

Book  II.  is  the  actual  statement  of  our  scientific 
philosophy. 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION  V 

NOTE  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR  vii 

PREFACE— OBJECTS  AND  METHOD  ix 

BOOK  I 

THE  UNIVERSE  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  ACCORDING 
TO  THE  CLASSICAL  SCIENTIFIC  AND  PHILO- 
SOPHICAL THEORIES— A  CRITICAL  STUDY 


PART    I 
Classical  Naturalistic  Theories  of  Evolution 

FOREWORD  5 

CHAPTER  I FAILURE  OF  THE  CLASSICAL  FACTORS  OF 

ADAPTATION  AND  SELECTION  TO  EXPLAIN  THE 
ORIGIN    OF    SPECIES  9 

CHAPTER  II FAILURE  OF  THE  CLASSICAL  FACTORS  TO 

EXPLAIN  THE  ORIGIN  OF  INSTINCTS  I  8 

CHAPTER    III FAILURE    OF   THE    CLASSICAL    FACTORS 

TO  EXPLAIN  ABRUPT  TRANSFORMATIONS  CREA- 
TIVE   OF    NEW    SPECIES  23 

CHAPTER    IV FAILURE    OF    THE    CLASSICAL    FACTORS 

TO  EXPLAIN  THE  IMMEDIATE  AND  DEFINITIVE 
*  CRYSTALLISATION  '  OF  THE  ESSENTIAL  CHAR- 
ACTERS   OF    NEW    SPECIES    AND    NEW    INSTINCTS  I'J 

CHAPTER  V ^THE  TESTIMONY  OF  THE  INSECT  29 

xxi 


Contents 

CHAPTER    VI FAILURE    OF    THE    CLASSICAL    FACTORS 

TO  EXPLAIN  THE  GENERAL  PHILOSOPHICAL 
DIFFICULTY  RELATING  TO  EVOLUTION,  HOW 
THE  COMPLEX  CAN  PROCEED  FROM  THE  SIMPLE 
AND  THE  GREATER  FROM  THE  LESS  32 


PART    II 

The  Classical  Psycho-Physiological  Concept  of  the 
Individual 

FOREWORD  37 

CHAPTER     I ^THE     CLASSICAL     NOTION     OF     PHYSIO- 
LOGICAL   INDIVIDUALITY  40 

§   I.    DIFFICULTIES     RELATING    TO    THE     POLY- 

ZOIST    CONCEPT  40 

§  2.  DIFFICULTIES  RELATING  TO  THE  SPECIFIC 
FORM  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL,  TO  THE 
BUILDING,  THE  MAINTENANCE,  AND 
THE  REPAIR  OF  THE  ORGANISM  4 1 

§  3.  THE  PROBLEM  OF  EMBRYONIC  AND  POST- 
EMBRYONIC    METAMORPHOSES  46 

§  4.    THE    HISTOLYSIS    OF    THE    INSECT  48 

CHAPTER  II ^THE  PROBLEM  OF  SUPERNORMAL  PHYSI- 
OLOGY 5  I 

§  I.    MATERIALISATIONS  5 1 

§  2.    THE  UNITY  OF  ORGANIC  SUBSTANCE  6^ 

§  3.    THE  EVIDENCE  OF  A  SUPERIOR  DYNAMISM  6$ 

§  4.    THE    CONDITIONING    OF    THE    DYNAMISM 

BY  THE   IDEA  66 

§  5.  THE  SECONDARY  MODALITIES  OF  SUPER- 
NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY  69 

xxii 


Contents 

§  6.    THE  NEW  AND  THE  CLASSICAL  CONCEPT  OF 

THE  INDIVIDUAL  COMPARED!  SUMMARY  7 1 

CHAPTER   III PSYCHOLOGICAL   INDIVIDUALITY  74 

§   I.    THE  SELF  CONSIDERED  AS  A  SYNTHESIS  OF 

STATES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS  74 

§  2.  THE  SELF  AS  A  PRODUCT  OF  THE  FUNCTIONS 
OF  THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM PSYCHO- 
PHYSIOLOGICAL   PARALLELISM  77 

§  3.    FACTS  OF  NORMAL  PSYCHOLOGY  AT  ISSUE 

WITH    THE    THESIS    OF    PARALLELISM  78 

CHAPTER  IV SUBCONSCIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY  '  84 

§   I.    CRYPTO-PSYCHISM  84 

§  2.    CRYPTOMNESIA  88 

§  3.    ALTERATIONS    OF    PERSONALITY  94 

CHAPTER     V THE     SO-CALLED     SUPERNORMAL     SUB- 
CONSCIOUSNESS 95 

§  I.  SUPERNORMAL  PHYSIOLOGY  IS  CONDI- 
TIONED BY  SUPERNORMAL  PSYCHOLOGY  95 

§  2.    MENTO-MENTAL    ACTION  95 

§  3.    LUCIDITY  98 

§  4.    SPIRITOID    PHENOMENA  ICO 

CHAPTER     VI CLASSICAL     THEORIES     OF     THE     SUB- 
CONSCIOUS 102 

PHYSIOLOGICAL   THEORIES 

§  I.    THE    THEORY    OF    AUTOMATISM  I02 

§  2.    THE    THEORY    OF    MORBIDITY  IO7 

PSYCHOLOGICAL   THEORIES 

§3.    PETITIONES    PRINCIPII  III 

§  4.    ARTIFICIAL      DISJUNCTIONS      AND      VERBAL 

EXPLANATIONS  I  I  3 

§5.    PROFESSOR    JASTROW'S    THEORY  II7 

§6.  M.  ribot's  theory  118 

xxiii 


Contents 

Mm 

§  7.    CONCLUSIONS      FROM      THE      STUDY      OF 

CLASSICAL    PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGY  I20 

CHAPTER  VII RATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGICAL  INFERENCES 

BASED   ON  THE   SUBCONSCIOUS  122 

§   I.    THE  SUBCONSCIOUS  IS  THE  VERY  ESSENCE 

OF    INDIVIDUAL    PSYCHOLOGY  122 

§  2.    THE    IMPOTENCE    OF    CLASSICAL    PSYCHO- 
LOGY    TO     EXPLAIN     CRYPTO-PSYCHISM  ' 
AND     CRYPTOMNESIA  1 23 

§  3.  ABSENCE  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN  THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS  ON  THE  ONE  HAND, 
AND  THE  STATE  OF  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
THE  BRAIN,  HEREDITY,  AND  SENSORIAL 
AND  INTELLECTUAL  ACQUIREMENT  ON 
THE    OTHER  128 

§  4.  ABSENCE  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN  THE 
MANIFESTATIONS  OF  SUBCONSCIOUS  AND 
CEREBRAL    ACTIVITY  I30 

§  5.  ABSENCE  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN 
CRYPTOMNESIA  AND  CEREBRAL  PHYSI- 
OLOGY 132 

§  6.    ABSENCE  OF  CEREBRAL  LOCALISATIONS  FOR 

THE    SUBCONSCIOUSNESS  1 32 

§  7.  ABSENCE  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN  THE 
SUBCONSCIOUSNESS  AND  ORGANIC  OR 
SENSORIAL    POWERS  1 33 

§  8.  IMPOSSIBILITY  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN 
ORGANIC  CAPACITY  AND  THE  SUPER- 
NORMAL   SUBCONSCIOUSNESS  133 

§  9.  THE  SUBCONSCIOUSNESS  OUTRANGES  THE 
ORGANISM  AND  COMPLETELY  CONDI- 
TIONS   IT  135 

§   10.    GENERAL     CONCLUSIONS     OF     RATIONAL 

PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGY  1 36 

xxiv 


Contents 

PART     III 

Philosophical  Theories  of  Evolution 


PAGB 


FOREWORD  141 

CHAPTER        I EVOLUTION        UNDER         PROVIDENCE 

ACCORDING   TO    DOGMA  1 44 

§  I.  TENTATIVE  RECONCILIATIONS  OF  EVOLU- 
TIONARY  AND    DOGMATIC    IDEAS  1 44 

§  2.    THE   OBJECTION    BASED   ON   THE   EVIDENT 

GROPINGS   AND    ERRORS    IN    EVOLUTION        1 46 

§   3.    OBJECTIONS      BASED      ON      EVIL      IN     THE 

UNIVERSE  147 

§  4.    NEO-MANICHEISM  1 54 

CHAPTER  II MONISM  I  57 

CHAPTER  III M.  BERGSOn's  *  CREATIVE  EVOLUTION  '        161 

§   I.    SUMMARY  OF  THE   BERGSONIAN  THEORY  161 

§  2.    CRITICISM    OF   THE    BERGSONIAN   THEORY 

ITS    METHOD  I  73 

§  3.    BERGSONIAN    DOCTRINES    WHICH    ARE    IN 

ACCORD    WITH    FACTS  1 76 

§  4.    UNDEMONSTRATED  OR  UNDEMONSTRABLE 

DOCTRINES  177 

§  5.    CONTRADICTIONS   AND   INEXACTITUDES  1 78 

§  6.  DOCTRINES  CONTRARY  TO  WELL-ESTAB- 
LISHED FACTS  CONTRARY  TO  THE  BERG- 
SONIAN THEORY,  THE  FACTS  OF  SUB- 
CONSCIOUS PSYCHOLOGY  PROVE  THE 
NATURE  OF  ANIMALS  AND  MAN  TO  BE 
IDENTICAL  180 

CHAPTER  IV ^THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  UNCONSCIOUS 

GENERAL    SUMMARY  I  88 

§  I.  Schopenhauer's  demonstration  189 

§  2.  Schopenhauer's  pessimism  193 

XXV 


Contents 

§  3.    VON    HARTMANN*S    SYSTEMATISATION  1 96 

§  4.  CRITICISM  OF  THE  SPECIFIC  DISTINCTION 
BETWEEN  THE  CONSCIOUS  AND  THE 
UNCONSCIOUS  197 

BOOK  II 

FROM  THE   UNCONSCIOUS  TO  THE  CONSCIOUS 

FOREWORD  203 

PART    I 

Individual  Evolution — The  Transition  from   Unconscious- 
ness to  Consciousness  in  the  Individual 

CHAPTER   I ^THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONCEIVED  OF  AS  AN 

ESSENTIAL    DYNAMO-PSYCHISM    AND    REPRESEN- 
TATIONS 211 

§  I.    THE  SCIENTIFIC   BASIS   FOR  THE  CONCEPT       2ll 

§  2.  THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONSIDERED  AS  REPRE- 
SENTATIONS 214 

§  3.    THE    SELF    CONSIDERED    AS    AN    ESSENTIAL 

DYNAMO-PSYCHISM  217 

CHAPTER      II ^THE      ESSENTIAL      DYNAMO-PSYCHISM 

PASSES      BY     EVOLUTIONARY     REPRESENTATIONS 
FROM   THE   UNCONSCIOUS   TO  THE   CONSCIOUS  221 

§  I.  THE  CONSCIOUS  AND  THE  UNCONSCIOUS 
MUTUALLY  INTERPENETRATE  AND  CON-' 
DITION    EACH    OTHER  222 

§  2.  THE  UNCONSCIOUS  DYNAMO-PSYCHISM 
TENDS  TO  BECOME  A  CONSCIOUS 
DYNAMO-PSYCHISM  223 

CHAPTER  III SYNTHESIS  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  228 

xxvi 


Contents 

ruom 

§  I.  PRIMORDIAL  AND  SECONDARY  REPRESEN- 
TATIONS OR  OBJECTIFICATIONS  OF  THE 
INDIVIDUAL   DYNAMO- PSYCH  ISM  228 

§  2.  VITAL  DYNAMISM  AND  ORGANIC  REPRE- 
SENTATION 229 

§  3.    MENTAL  REPRESENTATIONS  AND  THE  REAL 

SELF  234 

§  4.    METAPHYSICAL       INFERENCES       ON       THE 

ORIGIN  AND  FUTURE  OF  INDIVIDUALITY       238 

CHAPTER   IV INTERPRETATION   OF    PSYCHOLOGY  BY 

THE    NEW    IDEAS  242 

§  I.  NORMAL    PSYCHOLOGY  242 

§  2.  ABNORMAL    PSYCHOLOGY  244 

§  3.  NEUROPATHIC    STATES  245" 

§  4.  NEURASTHENIA  25O 

§  5.  HYSTERIA  251 

§  6.  THE    ESSENTIALS    OF    DEMENTIA  252 

§  7.  HYPNOTISM  254 

§  8.  ALTERATIONS    OF    PERSONALITY  255 

'       §  9.    INTELLECTUAL  WORK  AND  ITS  MODALITIES 

GENIUS  258 

§   10.    THE    SUPERNORMAL  26 1 

§   II.    MEDIUMSHIP  263 

PART    II 

The  Evolution  of  the  Universe — Transition  from  the 
Unconscious  to  the  Conscious  in  the  Universe 

CHAPTER    I THE    UNIVERSE    CONCEIVED    OF    AS    AN 

ESSENTIAL    DYNAMO-PSYCHISM    AND    REPRESEN- 
TATION 275 

xxvii 


Contents 

MOX 

§  2.    ITS  EVOLUTION  IS  ONLY  THE  ACQUISITION 

OF    CONSCIOUSNESS  275 

§  3.    EVOLUTIONARY     LAWS ^THE     SUCCESSION 

OF  SPECIES ^THE  FINALITY  ACQUIRED  276 

CHAPTER    II EXPLANATION    OF   THE    EVOLUTIONARY 

DIFFICULTIES  284 


PART    III 

The  Consequences :    Optimism  or  Pessimism  ? 

CHAPTER  I REFUTATION  OF  THE  PESSIMIST  VIEW  OF 

THE   UNIVERSE   BY  THE  TRANSITION  FROM  THE 
UNCONSCIOUS  TO  THE  CONSCIOUS  29 1 

CHAPTER  II REALISATION  Of  THE  SOVEREIGN  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 299 

CHAPTER      III REALISATION      OF      THE      SOVEREIGN 

JUSTICE  314 

CHAPTER  IV REALISATION  OF  THE  SOVEREIGN  GOOD       3I9 


CONCLUSION 

APPENDIX 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


328 
329 


BOOK  I 
THE   UNIVERSE  AND   THE   INDIVIDUAL 


ACCORDING   TO    THE    CLASSICAL   SCIENTIFIC    AND 
PHILOSOPHICAL   THEORIES 


(A  CRITICAL  STUDY) 


PART  I 

CLASSICAL  NATURALISTIC  THEORIES  OF   EVOLUTION 


FOREWORD 

Although  evolution,  considered  as  a  whole,  constitutes 
to-day  the  most  firmly  established  of  all  the  great  scientific 
hypotheses,  it  nevertheless  presents  some  serious  diffi- 
culties in  its  systematisation  and  its  philosophy. 

The  principle  of  evolutionary  theory,  based  as  it  is 
on  leading  facts  of  the  natural  sciences,  defies  any 
honest  attempt  at  refutation. 

Nevertheless,  there  are,  in  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
formability  as  taught  up  to  the  present,  weak  points 
and  serious  lacuna,  on  which  its  enemies  base  their 
hopes.  No  longer  daring  to  attack  it  from  the  front, 
they  hope  to  turn  its  flank. 

It  would  be  therefore,  not  only  puerile,  but  also 
dangerous  from  a  philosophic  point  of  view,  to  deny 
or  to  dissimulate  these  weak  points  and  defects.  It  is 
well  on  the  contrary  to  seek  for  their  origin  and  their 
explanation  by  placing  them  in  full  light. 

The  objections  to  the  evolutionary  theory  put 
forward  in  this  work  are  not,  I  repeat,  objections  to  the 
principle.  They  do  not  aim  at  the  fact  of  evolution. 
They  are,  however,  serious  because  they  displace  the 
two  pillars  on  which  transformability  has  been  erected, 
that  is  to  say,  the  classical  notions  of  ultimate  cause  and 
manner  of  effect. 

The  mechanism  of  evolution  is  now  found  to  need 
revision.  This  mechanism,  as  is  well  known,  arose 
from  two  great  hypotheses  —  those  of  Darwin  and 
Lamarck. 

The  Darwinian  hypothesis  assigned  an  essential 
function  to  natural  selection,  that  is,  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  in  the  struggle  for  life;    the  fittest  being'  those 

5  c 


Foreword 

which  distinguish  themselves  from  their  congeners  by 
some  physical  or  psychological  advantage  relative  to 
the  vital  necessities  of  the  environment,  this  advantage 
having  appeared  by  chance. 

The  Lamarckian  hypothesis  assigned  a  primary 
function  to  the  influence  of  the  environment,  to  the  use 
or  disuse  of  organs ;  making  the  environment  (at  need) 
even  the  origin  of  new  functions  and  new  organs. 

These  two  classical  causes,  perfectly  reconcilable 
or  even  complementary,  necessarily  implied  the  notion 
of  slow,  imperceptible,  and  innumerable  modifications 
leading  to  the  progressive  formation  of  diverse  species 
from  one  or  more  primitive  forms  up  to  man. 

To  these  two  general  hypotheses,  there  have  been 
added  in  our  day,  countless  secondary  theories  intended 
either  to  establish  special  laws,  such  as  those  of  heredity, 
or  to  combat  the  ceaselessly  renewed  and  multiplied 
objections  which  a  rigorous  analysis  of  facts  has  brought 
against  the  classical  concept  of  transformism. 

Among  these  theories,  some  connect  with  Darwin, 
some  with  Lamarck,  others  eclectically  with  both 
systems.  Some  carry  purely  mechanical  explanations; 
others  rise  to  dynamical  concepts;  a  few  even  trench 
on  the  domain  of  metaphysics.* 

On  all  of  them  the  same  general  judgment  may  be 
passed:  they  show  prodigious  ingenuity  and  an  even 
more  prodigious  impotence. 

I  shall  not  discuss  these  theories  nor  their  claims 
to  explain  the  difficulties  of  transformism.* 

The  innumerable  arguments  which  have  been  in- 
voked in  various  connections  for  or  against  transformism, 
for  or  against  the  classic  naturalism,  relating  as  they 

'  Cf .  specially  Delage  and  Goldsmith :  Les  TMories  de  revolution 
(published  by  Flammarion),  and  Deperret,  Les  Transformations  du  Monde 
Animal. 

'Transformism.  This  term  is  advisedly  used  by  Huxley  to  express 
the  general  fact,  as  distinguished  from  particular  concrete  transformations 
or  abstract  transformability. — [Translator's  note.] 

6 


Foreword 

do  to  secondary  matters,  do  not  carry  conviction  or 
lead  to  a  conclusion. 

Conformably  to  the  method  explained  above,  I  shall 
neglect  these  arguments  on  details  and  only  consider 
immediately  and  directly  the  essential  and  primordial 
difficulties,  which  are  the  only  real  difficulties,  of 
transformism.  The  secondary  imperfections  of  the 
naturalistic  edifice  matter  little;  the  essential  is  to 
ascertain  whether  the  body  of  this  edifice,  its  framework 
and  keystones,  are  strong  or  weak. 

There  are  five  capital  difficulties  in  classical  trans- 
formism, viz.: — 

1 .  The  failure  of  the  classical  factors  to  explain  the 

origin  of  species. 

2.  The  failure  of  the  classical  factors  to  explain  the 

origin  of  instincts. 

3.  The  failure  of  the  classical  factors  to  explain  the 

abrupt  and  creative  transformations  of  new 
species. 

4.  The  failure  of  the  classical  factors  to  explain  the 

immediate  and  definitive  *  crystallisation  *  of 
the  essential  characteristics  of  new  species  or  new 
instincts — the  fact  that  these  characteristics,  in 
their  main  outlines,  are  very  rapidly  acquired 
and  once  acquired,  remain  immutable. 

5.  The  failure  of  the  classical  factors  to  resolve  the 

general    philosophic   difficulty   with   regard  to 
evolution,   which  makes  the  complex  proceed 
from  the  simple  and  the  greater  from  the  less. 
Let  us  now  study  these  five  essential  difficulties. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    CLASSICAL    FACTORS   ARE    POWERLESS   TO   EXPLAIN    THE 
ORIGIN    OF    SPECIES 

It  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  neither  the  Darwinian 
nor  the  Lamarckian  hypothesis  enables  us  to  understand 
the  origin  of  characteristics  that  constitute  a  new 
species. 

Let  us  take  the  Darwinian  hypothesis  first. 

Natural  selection,  considered  as  an  essential  factor  of 
transformism,  has  grave  obstacles  to  overcome,  obstacles 
of  principle  and  obstacles  of  fact.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  discuss  them  all,  for  one  alone,  the  gravest,  suffices  to 
demonstrate  the  impotence  of  the  system.     It  is  this : — 

In  order  that  any  given  modification  occurring  in 
the  characteristics  of  a  species  or  an  individual,  should 
give  to  that  species  or  to  that  individual  an  appreciable 
advantage  in  the  struggle  for  life,  it  is  evident  that  this 
modification  must  he  sufficiently  marked  to  he  utilisahle. 

Now  an  embryonic  organ,  a  modification  merely 
adumbrated,  appearing  by  chance  in  a  being  or  a  group 
of  beings,  can  be  of  no  practical  use  and  give  them  no 
advantage.^ 

The  bird  comes  from  the  reptile.  Now  an  embryonic 
wing,  appearing  by  chance,  one  knows  neither  how  nor 
why,  in  the  ancestral  reptile,  could  not  give  that  reptile 
the  capacity  or  the  advantage  of  flight,  and  would  give 
it  no  superiority  over  other  reptiles  unprovided  with  the 
unusable  rudiment.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to  attribute 
to  natural  selection  the  transition  from  reptile  to  bird. 

The  batrachian  comes  from  the  fish.     There  is  no 

*  It  is  needless  on  the  other  hand  to  emphasise  further  how  alien  to 
science  and  philosophy  alike  it  is  to  make  chance  the  principal  factor  of 
evolution. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

doubt  of  this,  since  we  see  this  evolution  renew  itself 
in  the  life  of  the  tadpole  by  a  series  of  changes,  perfecting 
the  heart,  causing  lungs  to  appear,  and  developing  legs. 
But  rudiments  of  legs  and  lungs  would  give  no 
advantage  to  a  fish  which  might  possess  them.  In  order 
to  have  an  advantage  over  its  congeners,  it  is  indispen- 
sable that  its  heart,  lungs,  and  organs  of  locomotion 
should  be  already  sufficiently  developed  to  allow  it  to 
live  out  of  the  water;  as  the  tadpole  does,  once  its  evolu- 
tion is  complete,  but  not  till  then. 

The  embryonic  transformations  of  insects  are  more 
striking  still.  There  is  such  an  abyss  between  the 
anatomy  and  the  physiology  of  the  larva  and  that  of  the 
perfect  insect,  that  it  is  evidently  impossible  to  find  in 
natural  selection  the  explanation  of  its  ancestral  evolu- 
tion.^ 

Alive  to  the  validity  of  this  objection,  certain  neo- 
Darwinians  have  not  hesitated  to  call  in  the  Lamarckian 
theory  of  the  influence  of  the  environment  and  to  refer 
such  modifications  as  are  creative  of  new  species  to  the 
joint  influence  of  adaptation  and  selection. 

This  theory,  known  as  organic  selection,  has  been 
formulated  by  Baldwin  and  Osborn  in  America,  and 
by  Lloyd  Morgan  in  England.  It  may  be  summed  up 
as  follows: — 

If  the  variation  appearing  by  chance  should  coincide 
or  agree  with  an  identical  variation  due  to  the  environing 
conditions,  this  variation  will  be  reinforced  by  the  double 
influence.  Thenceforward  it  may  be  sufficiently  marked 
to  allow  selection  to  come  in. 

Delage  and  Goldsmith  raise  the  objection,  that  *  if 
the   inborn    variation    is    at   first    too   slightly   marked 

*  The  larva  of  the  insect  does  not  exactly  represent  the  primitive 
insect,  for  the  larva  has  undergone  important  changes  following  on 
adaptations  necessitated  by  its  modes  of  existence.  But  even  if  we  ignore 
these  secondary  modifications,  there  is  still  undeniably  a  vast  abyss 
between  what  the  primitive  Insect  was  and  the  evolved  insect  is. 

10 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

to  give  any  advantage,  and  if  in  the  definitive 
constitution  of  the  animal,  ontogenetic^  adaptation 
plays  the  greatest  part,  this  adaptation  will  be  pro- 
duced both  in  the  individuals  possessing  the  inborn 
variation  in  question  and  in  those  devoid  of  it. 

Would  then  the  premium  due  to  general  variation 
suffice  to  ensure  survival  of  the  one  at  the  expense 
of  the  other  ?  Most  probably  not,  for,  were  it 
otherwise,  that  variation  alone  would  have  sufficed.* 

To  this  theory  a  still  more  definite  objection  may  be 
made:  even  admitting  that  the  original  variation  might 
be  reinforced  and  doubled,  or  even  tripled,  it  will  none 
the  less  be  a  very  small  variation.  It  will  therefore  never 
explain  the  appearance  of  certain  forms  of  life,  such  as 
the  bird  form.  An  embryo  wing,  even  exuberant  in 
type,  would  none  the  less  be  unusable,  giving  no 
superiority  to  the  ancestral  reptile. 

Indeed  this  theory  of  organic  selection  adds  nothing 
to  the  Lamarckian  doctrine  which  we  will  now  examine. 

According  to  this  doctrine  it  is  adaptation  to  new 
conditions  that  brings  about  the  formation  of  new  species. 
The  origin  of  the  creative  modification  is  not  due  to 
chance,  but  to  need.  The  ultimate  development  of  new 
and  characteristic  organs  comes  by  the  repeated  use  of 
these  organs,  and  their  atrophy  by  disuse. 

Thus  a  series  of  adaptations  produces  a  corresponding 
series  of  minor  variations,  at  first  very  small,  but  cumula- 
tive till  they  produce  major  transformations. 

The  Lamarckian  theory  has  been  adopted  by  the 
great  majority  of  contemporary  naturalists,  who  endeavour 
to  reduce  all  transformism  to  the  influence  of  the 
environment. 

The  systems  of  Cope^    and  Packard'  in  America, 

*  Ontogenetic.     Gr.    rd    ivra.,    existing    things ;     fheai^,    generation; 
individual  development  as  distinguished  from  genealogical  development. 

*  Cope  :    The  Primary  Factor  of  Organic  Evolution. 

*  Packard :   Lamarck,  the  Founder  oj  Evolution;  His  Life  and  Work, 

II 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  Giard  and  Le  Dantec  in   France,  are  Lamarckian 
systems. 

Packard  has  summed  up  the  causes  of  variation  as 
8een  by  him  as  follows. 

Neo-Lamarckism  acknowledges  and  unites  the 
factors  of  the  school  of  Saint  Hilaire  and  those  of 
Lamarck  as  containing  the  most  fundamental  causes 
of  variation ;  it  adds  to  these  geographical  isolation, 
or  segregation  (Wagner  and  Gulick),  the  effects  of 
weight,  of  currents  of  air  and  water,  the  mode  of 
life,  fixed,  sedentary,  or  per  contra^  active ;  the  results 
of  tension  and  of  contact  (Payder,  Cope,  and  Osborn), 
the  principle  of  a  change  of  function  as  bringing 
about  the  appearance  of  new  structures,  (Dohrn),  the 
effects  of  parasitism,  commensalism^  and  symbiosis,* 
in  short,  of  the  biological  environment,  as  well  as 
natural  and  sexual  selection  and  hybridism.  In 
fine,  all  conceivable  primary  factors. 

Cope  has  made  a  special  endeavour  to  explain  the 
appearance  of  variations  by  the  action  of  these  primary 
factors.  He  refers  variations  to  two  essential  causes. 
The  first  is  the  direct  effect  of  the  environment,  and 
to  all  the  factors  above  enumerated  Cope  gives  the 
general  name  oiphysiogenesis.  The  second  is  the  influence 
of  the  use  or  disuse  of  organs,  the  physiological  reactions 
produced  in  the  animal  in  response  to  exciting  causes 
in  the  environment.     Cope  calls  this  kinetogenesis. 

This  second  cause  would  be  of  the  first  importance, 
and  Cope  brings  this  out  by  his  study  of  palaeontology. 
He  adduces  innumerable  examples  in  support  of  his 
thesis.  One  of  the  best  known  is  the  formation  of  the 
foot  by  adaptation  to  speed,  in  plantigrade,  and  more 
especially  digitograde,  quadrupeds,  with  the  characteristic 

*  Identity  of  food.  •  Living  together. 

12 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

progressive  reduction  in  the  number  of  the  digits 
in  the  latter.  The  horse,  for  example,  by  its  adaptation 
to  speed,  has  but  one  digit,  the  median,  much  hyper- 
trophied  and  terminated  by  a  thick  layer  of  horn,  and  two 
rudimentary  metacarpals  accessible  only  by  dissection; 
but  the  reduction  in  the  number  and  size  of  the  lateral 
digits  is  seen  in  the  evolutionary  series  of  its  ancestors. 

The  formation  of  the  articulations  of  the  foot  and 
hand  of  mammals  is  equally  typical.  He  observes 
as  follows: 

The  articulation  of  the  foot,  which  is  very  strong, 
presents  two  processes  of  the  astragalus,  the  leading 
bone  of  the  foot,  which  project  into  two  corresponding 
sockets  of  the  tibia,  and  a  process  of  this  latter  fitting 
into  a  socket  of  the  astragalus.  This  structure  does 
not  (as  yet)  exist  either  in  the  inferior  vertebrates, 
such  as  reptiles,  or  in  the  ancestral  mammals  of  each 
of  the  great  living  branches;  it  has  been  formed 
little  by  little,  by  reason  of  a  certain  mode  of  move- 
ment and  a  certain  attitude  of  the  animal. 

The  external  walls  of  these  bones  being  formed 
of  stronger  material  than  their  central  parts,  the 
sequence  of  development  would  seem  to  be  as 
follows:  the  astragalus  is  narrower  than  the  tibia 
which  rests  upon  it,  therefore  the  peripheral  parts 
of  the  former  bone,  being  in  contact  not  with  equally 
resisting  parts  of  the  latter  but  with  portions  relatively 
softer,  these,  under  this  pressure,  have  suffered  a 
certain  absorption  of  their  substance,  and  two 
depressions  corresponding  to  the  two  edges  of  the 
astragalus  have  been  formed.  This  is  precisely  what 
would  be  produced  in  more  or  less  plastic,  inert 
substances  under  continuous  pressure. 

The  central  depression  in  the  upper  edge  of  the 
astragalus  arises  from  a  similar  cause.  Here  the 
inferior  extremity  of  the  tibia,  having  a  relatively 

1.3 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

slight  resisting  power,  rests  on  a  similarly  weak 
portion  of  the  astragalus  and  is  liable  to  continual 
shocks.  The  consequence  of  such  shocks  must  cause 
the  malleable  parts  of  the  bones  to  take  the  form 
corresponding  to  the  direction  in  which  the  weight 
acts;  a  protuberance  above  and  a  depression  below 
will  be  formed.  This  is  exactly  what  has  resulted 
in  the  tibia  and  the  astragalus.  From  the  tertiary 
period  up  to  our  own  day  we  can  follow  the  formation 
of  this  articulation:  first,  as  in  the  Periptychtis 
rhahdodon  of  Mexico,  a  flat  astragalus;  then  a  slight 
concavity  more  and  more  accentuated  into  an  actual 
socket  (Poebrotherium  lahiatum  of  Colorado),  and 
finally  a  protuberance  penetrating  into  a  concavity 
of  the  tibia  completes  the  articulation  appears  in 
the  Prothippus  sejunctus,  the  ancestor  of  the  present 
horse.     (Quoted  by  Delage  and  Goldsmith.) 

Cope,  however,  does  not  confine  himself  to  mechanical 
concepts.  He  admits  in  evolution  a  kind  of  *  energy 
of  growth  *  not  well  defined,  which  he  calls  *  bathmism,'  ^ 
an  energy  which  would  appear  to  be  transmitted  by  the 
germinal  cells,  and  would  constitute  that  true  vital 
dynamism  which  alone  can  enable  us  to  understand 
how  '  function  makes  the  organ.* 

Dantec,  on  the  other  hand,  who  also  maintains  the 
Lamarckian  doctrine,  adheres  to  pure  mechanism.  He 
bases  evolution  on  what  he  calls  *  functional  assimilation.* 
According  to  this  system,  living  matter,  instead  of  being 
used  up  and  destroyed  by  functioning,  as  was  taught 

^  From  the  Greek  /3atf/ios  =  a  step  or  threshold.  'It  is  here  left  open 
whether  there  is  any  form  of  force  which  may  be  especially  designated 
as  'vital.'  Many  of  the  animal  functions  are  known  to  be  physical  and 
chemical,  and  if  there  is  any  one  which  appears  to  be  less  explicable  by 
reference  to  these  forces  than  the  others,  it  is  that  of  nutrition.  Probably 
in  this  instance,  force  has  been  so  metamorphosed  through  the  influence 
of  the  originative  or  conscious  force  in  evolution,  that  it  is  a  distinct 
species  in  the  category  of  forces.  Assuming  it  to  be  such,  I  have  given 
it  the  name  of  Bathmism.' — E.  D.  Cope,  Meth.  tf  Creation,  p.  26. — 
[Translator's  note.] 

14 


"From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

by  physiologists  of  the  school  of  CI.  Bernard,  develops 
by  functioning.  That  which  is  worn  and  expended  is 
merely  reserve  material,  such  as  fat,  the  sugar  of  the 
tissues,  etc. ;  but  the  living  matter  itself,  such  as  muscle, 
increases  by  use. 

He  maintains  that  it  is  in  virtue  of  this  *  functional 
assimilation  '  that  adaptation  to  environment  and  con- 
secutive progress  take  place. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  evident  that  the  Lamarckian 
doctrine  is  infinitely  more  satisfying  than  the  Darwinian. 

But  is  it  completely  so  }    By  no  means. 

It  can  account  for  the  appearance  of  a  number  of 
secondary  organic  details  and  more  or  less  important 
modifications,  such  as  the  atrophy  of  the  eye  of  the 
mole,  the  hypertrophy  of  the  median  digit  in  the 
Equidae,  or  the  special  structure  of  the  articulations  of 
the  foot;  but,  as  a  general  theory,  it  is  assuredly  false, 
because  it  is  powerless  to  explain  the  more  important  facts. 

It  does  not  explain  the  major  transformations  which 
have  been  considered  in  our  criticism  of  the  Darwinian 
hypothesis. 

Confronted  with  these,  Lamarckianism  is  as  power- 
less as  Darwinism,  because  these  transformations  imply 
radical,  and  so  to  speak  immediate,  changes,  and  not  an 
accumulation  of  small  and  slow  modifications. 

The  transition  from  an  aquatic  to  a  terrestrial  mode 
of  life,  and  from  a  terrestrial  to  an  aerial,  can  by  no 
means  be  regarded  as  results  of  adaptation. 

The  ancestral  species,  adapted  to  very  special 
surroundings,  had  no  need  to  change  them,  and  had 
they  felt  the  need,  would  have  been  unable  to  meet  it. 
How  could  the  reptilian  ancestor  of  the  bird  adapt 
itself  to  surroundings  which  were  not  its  own  and 
could  only  become  its  own  after  it  had  passed  from  the 
reptilian  to  the  bird  form  }  Before  possessing  usable 
(not  embryonic)  wings,  it  could  not  have  an  aerial  life 
to  which  to  adapt  itself. 

15 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  same  line  of  reasoning  applies,  of  course,  to  the 
transition  from  the  fish  to  the  batrachian. 

But  it  is  in  the  evolution  of  the  insect  that  the 
impossibility  of  transformation  by  adaptation  is  yet  more 
obvious.  There  is  no  connection  between  the  biology 
of  the  larva,  which  represents,  to  some  degree  at  any 
rate,  the  primitive  state  of  the  ancestral  insect,  and  the 
biology  of  the  perfect  insect  form.  One  cannot  even 
conceive  by  what  mysterious  series  of  adaptations  an 
insect,  accustomed  to  larval  life,  underground  or  in 
water,  could  succeed  in  gradually  creating  for  itself 
wings  for  an  aerial  life,  closed  to  it  and  doubtless  unknown. 

When,  further,  one  considers  that  this  mysterious 
series  of  adaptations  would  have  had  to  take  place,  not 
once,  by  a  kind  of  *  natural  miracle,'  but  as  many  times 
as  there  are  genera  of  winged  insects,  it  becomes  as 
hopeless  to  deduce  the  appearance  of  these  species  from 
Lamarckian  as  from  Darwinian  factors. 

This  point  is  in  fact  self-evident.  Plate  himself 
perfectly  understood  the  impossibility  of  explaining  these 
major  transformations  by  *  adaptation,*  when  he  wrote 
that  *  by  the  very  fact  that  an  animal  belongs  to  a  certain 
group,  the  possibilities  of  variation  are  restrained,  and  in 
many  cases,  restrained  within  very  narrow  limits.' 

Therefore  Lamarckianism  and  Darwinism  are  alike 
incapable  of  giving  a  general  explanation  applicable  to 
all  cases,  of  the  appearance  of  new  species.  If  the 
majority  of  biologists  who  hold  to  transformism  do 
not  yet  admit  this,  there  are,  nevertheless,  those  who  do, 
and  endeavour  to  find  elsewhere  a  superior  factor  in 
evolution  which  may  get  over  the  difficulties  inherent  in 
the  classical  evolutionary  theories. 

Some  neo-Lamarckians,  such  as  Pauly,  attribute  to 
the  constituent  elements  of  the  organism,  to  the  organism 
itself,  to  plants,  and  to  minerals,  a  kind  of  profound 
consciousness  which  might  originate  all  modifications 
and  all  adaptations.     At  all  steps  of  the  evolutionary 

i6 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

scale  they  see  a  continuous  and  intentional  effort  towards 
adaptation. 

Nageli  is  still  more  precise:  according  to  him  the 
organism  includes  two  kinds  of  plasm:  the  nutritive, 
common  to  all  species  and  not  differentiated;  and  the 
specific,  or  idio-plasm. 

This  idio-plasm  would  contain  not  only  the  micellian 
fasciculi  which  characterise  it,  but  also  an  internal 
evolutionary  tendency  with  all  the  capacities  and  poten- 
tialities for  transformation  and  perfectibility.  This 
potentiality  must  have  existed  in  the  first  living  forms 
from  the  very  beginnings  of  life.  External  factors  hence- 
forth would  only  facilitate  adaptation;  but  would  of 
themselves  be  incapable  of  initiating  evolution.  They 
would  but  aid  and  favour  evolution,  and  bring  it  under 
their  special  rhythm. 

These  concepts  of  Nageli's  are  extremely  interesting. 
They  eventuate  in  the  conclusion  that  evolution  has 
come  about,  not  by  the  influence  of  the  environment, 
but  conformably  to  it. 

Adaptation  appears  in  all  cases  as  a  consequence, 
sometimes  as  a  determining  factor,  but  never  as  a 
sufficient  and  essential  cause. 

An  impartial  study  of  the  modifications  which 
originate  species  leads  necessarily  to  this  conclusion. 
But  such  a  concept  is  absolutely  contrary  to  classical 
naturalism. 


CHAPTER  II 

FAILURE     OF     THE     CLASSICAL     FACTORS     TO     EXPLAIN     THE 
ORIGIN    OF    INSTINCTS 

It  is  well  known  that  the  instincts  of  animals  are  as 
innumerable  as  they  are  marvellous.  They  have  in 
common  the  characteristic  that  they  allow  the  creature 
to  act  spontaneously,  without  reasoned  thought,  without 
hesitation  or  groping,  and  to  attain  the  desired  end  with  a 
certainty  with  which  neither  reason,  nor  training,  nor 
impulse,  can  compare. 

Thanks  to  instinct,  an  animal  of  any  given  species 
always  acts  conformably  to  the  genius  of  its  kind,  some- 
times in  a  very  complex  manner,  for  attack,  defence, 
subsistence,  reproduction,  and  so  forth.  The  essential 
instinct  is  identical  in  all  the  individuals  of  the  same 
species,  and  seems  as  refractory  to  variation  as  the 
species  itself.  For  each  species  it  constitutes  a  psychical 
characteristic  as  well  defined  as  the  physical. 

Now  the  origin  of  instincts  is  no  more  explicable 
by  natural  selection  or  by  the  influence  of  the  environ- 
ment than  the  formation  of  species.  This  can  be  best 
observed  in  the  insect.  Fabre  has  done  imperishable 
work  in  this  direction,  and  it  is  to  his  writings  that  we 
must  refer  in  order  to  understand  the  characteristic 
variety,  complexity,  and  sureness  of  these  instincts,  as 
well  as  the  impossibility  of  explaining  them  by  the 
classical  notions. 

A  few  examples  will  suffice.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
Sitaris,  quoted  by  Bergson  as  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able. 

*  The  Sitaris  deposits  its  eggs  at  the  entrance  of  the 
holes  which  a  certain  species  of  bee,  the  Anthophora, 

i8 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

digs  in  the  earth.  The  larva  of  the  Sitaris,  after  a  long 
wait,  seeks  the  male  anthophora  as  he  leaves  the  gallery, 
fastens  on  him  and  remains  attached  until  his  nuptial 
flight;  it  then  profits  by  the  occasion  to  pass  from  the 
male  to  the  female  and  waits  until  the  latter  lays  her 
eggs.  It  then  fastens  on  the  egg,  which  will  support 
it  in  the  honey,  devours  the  egg  in  a  few  days,  and 
resting  on  the  empty  shell,  undergoes  its  first  trans- 
formation. 

*  Now  organised  to  float  on  the  honey,  it  becomes 
first  a  grub,  and  then  a  perfect  insect.  Everything 
happens  as  if  the  larva  of  the  Sitaris  when  hatched  knew 
that  the  male  anthophora  will  emerge  first  from  the  hole, 
that  the  nuptial  flight  will  give  an  opportunity  of  passing 
to  the  female,  that  this  latter  will  convey  it  to  a  reserve 
of  honey  fit  for  its  nourishment  when  transformed,  and 
that  previous  to  that  metamorphosis  it  will  have  fed  on 
the  Qgg,  so  that  the  empty  shell  may  float  with  it  on  the 
surface  of  the  honey,  and  incidentally  that  it  will  suppress 
the  rival  which  would  have  come  from  the  egg.  And 
similarly  everything  comes  to  pass  as  if  the  Sitaris  knew 
that  its  larva  would  know  all  these  things.* 

Another  classical  example  is  that  of  the  hunting 
hymenoptera.  The  larva  of  these  insects  requires  a 
motionless  and  living  prey;  motionless,  because  any 
defensive  movements  might  imperil  the  delicate  egg 
and  afterwards  the  tiny  grub  developing  in  one  part 
of  the  caterpillar;  and  living,  because  this  grub  cannot 
subsist  on  dead  matter. 

To  realise  this  double  necessity  for  its  larva,  the 
hymenopteron  must  paralyse  the  victim  without  killing 
it.  If  the  insect  acted  from  reason  this  operation  would 
need  extraordinary  knowledge  and  skill.  It  would  first 
have  to  proportion  the  dose  of  poison  so  as  to  administer 
just  enough  to  paralyse  without  killing;  and  further, 
still  more  important,  it  should  have  a  knowledge  of  the 
anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  caterpillar  and  an  infallible 

19 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

sureness  of  action  to  strike  at  once  on  the  right  spot 
by  surprise,  for  the  prey  is  often  formidably  armed  and 
stronger  than  the  aggressor. 

The  poisoned  sting  must  therefore  be  directed  with 
certainty  on  the  motor  nervous  centres,  and  there  only. 
One,  two,  or  several  stabs  are  needed,  according  to  the 
number  or  concentration  of  the  nerve-ganglions.  This 
function,  so  unerringly  exercised  by  the  insect,  has  not 
been  learned.  When  the  hymenopteron  tears  its  cocoon 
and  emerges  from  underground,  its  parents  and  prede- 
cessors have  been  long  dead,  and  the  insect  itself  will 
perish  without  seeing  its  progeny  or  its  successors.  The 
instinct  cannot  therefore  be  transmitted  by  example  nor 
by  training.     It  is  innate. 

How  can  the  origin  of  this  instinct  be  explained  by 
any  of  the  classical  factors  of  evolution  } 

Instinct,  we  are  told,  is  but  a  habit  acquired  little  by 
little  and  transmitted  by  heredity. 

Fabre  laid  himself  out  to  demonstrate  the  impossi- 
bility of  this  concept. 

Some  sand-wasp  in  the  long  distant  past,  would 
have  reached,  by  chance,  the  nerve-centres  of  a 
grub,  benefiting  by  the  act  partly  herself  by  avoiding 
a  struggle  not  devoid  of  danger,  and  partly  for  her 
larva,  provided  with  fresh  game,  alive  but  harmless. 
She  must  then  have  endowed  her  race,  by  heredity, 
with  the  propensity  to  repeat  these  advantageous 
tactics.  The  maternal  gift  would  not  have  favoured 
all  her  descendant's  equally  .  .  .  then  would  have 
followed  the  struggle  for  life  .  .  .  the  weaker 
would  have  succumbed,  the  strong  would  have 
prospered,  and  from  age  to  age,  selection  in  conjunc- 
tion with  life  would  have  transformed  the  fugitive 
impression  of  the  first  act  into  the  deep,  ineffaceable 
instinct  at  which  we  marvel  in  the  hymenoptera  of 
to-day. 

20 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

That  selection  (Darwinian  hypothesis)  or  re- 
peated exercise  (Lamarckian  hypothesis),  may  have 
reinforced  and  perfected  these  instincts  is  possible 
or  even  probable.  But  according  to  Fabre,  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  can  explain  the  origin  of  the 
instinct  itself. 

Neither  chance  nor  need  can  explain  how  the 
sting  of  the  primitive  insect  found  at  once,  without 
trials,  the  nerve-ganglion,  and  was  able  to  paralyse 
without  killing.  Actually  *  there  was  no  reason 
for  a  choice :  the  stabs  had  to  be  given  on  the  upper 
surface,  on  the  lower  surface,  on  the  side,  from  the 
front,  from  behind,  at  random,  according  to  the 
chances  of  a  struggle  .  .  .  and  how  many  points 
are  there  on  the  skin  and  interior  of  a  gray  cater- 
pillar }  Rigorous  mathematics  would  reply :  An 
infinity.*  Nevertheless  the  sting  must  strike  once 
and  infallibly:  'the  art  of  provisioning  the  larva 
requires  a  master,  and  cannot  admit  apprenticeship. 
The  wasp  must  excel  from  the  first  or  make  no 
attempt  ...  no  middle  term,  no  half-success  will 
suffice.*  Either  the  caterpillar  is  operated  upon 
exactly,  or  the  death  of  the  aggressor  and  therefore 
of  her  descendants  ensues.  But  this  is  not  all: 
*  Let  the  desired  end  be  attained  ;  only  half  the 
work  is  done.  A  second  c^g  is  required  to  complete 
the  future  pair  and  give  progeny.  Therefore,  at  a 
few  days*  or  hours*  interval,  a  second  stab  must  be 
given  as  luckily  placed  as  the  first.  This  is  to  repeat 
the  impossibility  and  raise  it  to  the  second  power!  * 

It  is  true  that  these  conclusions  by  Fabre  have 
recently  been  impugned  as  too  absolute.  Researches 
by  Marchal,  by  Peckham,  by  Perez,  and  by  most  con- 
temporary naturalists,  seem  to  demonstrate  that  the 
primary  instincts,  in  some  of  their  details  at  least,  are 
variable  and  perfectible. 

21  D 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

But  the  primordial  difficulty — ^the  origin  of  the 
primary  instinct — still  remains  in  its  entirety.  Even  if 
it  be  possible  to  attribute  the  appearance  of  secondary 
instincts  or  the  various  modes  of  primary  ones  to  the 
operation  of  the  classical  factors,  the  origin  of  these 
primary  instincts  is  as  difficult  to  discover  as  the  origin 
of  species. 

The  instinct  to  use  the  poisoned  sting  puts  the 
same  problem  as  the  origin  of  the  sting  itself.  Neither 
the  organ  nor  the  instinct  can  play  a  useful  part  as  agents 
of  adaptation  or  selection  till  sufficiently  developed  and 
perfected.  Therefore,  as  for  species,  so  for  instincts, 
neither  adaptation  nor  selection  can  be  an  essential  or 
creative  factor. 


CHAPTER  III 

FAILURE   OF   THE   CLASSICAL    FACTORS   TO    EXPLAIN   ABRUPT 
TRANSFORMATIONS,    CREATIVE    OF    NEW    SPECIES. 

Lamarckism,  like  Darwinism,  lays  down  the  thesis  of 
very  small,  slow,  and  innumerable  modifications  as 
necessary  to  the  progressive  genesis  of  species. 

This  concept,  which  has  been  accepted  as  a  dogma, 
would  seem  above  controversy.  When,  recently,  De 
Vries  made  known  his  observations  on  what  he  called 
*  mutations,*  i.e.  the  abrupt  appearance  of  new  vegetable 
species  from  the  ancestral  species,  without  any  inter- 
mediate transitional  forms,  he  threw  all  those  interested 
in  philosophical  naturalism  into  confusion  and  disorder. 

For  several  years  a  curious  spectacle  was  presented. 

The  fact  of  mutation  supplied  the  doctrine  of 
transformability  with  the  only  proof  that  was  lacking 
— experimental  verification.  Nevertheless  it  was  seen, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  transformists  endeavoured  to 
minimise  the  importance  of  the  new  facts  and  the  scope 
of  the  new  theory;  and  on  the  other,  naive  adversaries 
adopted  it  with  enthusiasm,  both  imagining  that  the 
ruin  of  the  classical  teaching  would  involve  the  ruin  of 
the  evolutionary  idea  also! 

Le  Dantec,  in  his  book,  La  Crise  du  Transformisme^ 
thus  expresses  himself. 

*  A  new  theory  based  on  verified  experiments  has 
seen  the  light  a  few  years  since,  and  has  made 
numerous  converts  in  the  domain  of  the  natural 
sciences.  But  this  theory  of  mutations  or  abrupt 
variations  is  the  negation  of  Lamarckism;    I  might 

*  Published  by  F61ix  Alcan  (Paris). 
23 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

almost  say  that  it  is  the  negation  of  transformism 
itself.' 

He  adds,  *  In  fact,  from  a  philosophical  point 
of  view,  transformism  is  the  system  which  explains 
the  progressive  and  spontaneous  appearance  of  mar- 
vellously co-ordinated  living  mechanisms,  such  as 
those  of  Man  and  the  higher  animals.* 

It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel  that  the  spontaneous 
appearance  of  living  beings  is  a  philosophical  impossi- 
bility. The  progressive  appearance  of  such  beings  is  in 
no  way  traversed  by  the  theory  of  mutations. 

It  is  only  the  hypothetical  machinery,  the  supposed 
genesis  of  progressive  transformations,  which  is  in 
formal  opposition  to  the  new  facts. 

Le  Dantec,  and  the  naturalists  of  his  school  who 
identify  transformism  with  its  classical  factors,  are  in 
some  measure  logical  when  they  seek  to  limit  as  much 
as  possible  the  area  of  mutations.  But  the  evolutionary 
idea  itself  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the  new  discoveries; 
rather  the  contrary,  as  I  shall  endeavour  to  prove. 

Moreover,  Le  Dantec  is  almost  alone  in  his  opinion 
when  he  affirms  that  mutations  affect  secondary,  and 
mainly  ornamental,  characteristics  only,  *  leaving  the 
hereditary  patrimony  intact.* 

Since  the  experiments  by  De  Vries,  very  many  new 
observations  have  been  published,  and  the  palmary 
importance  of  mutation  is  no  longer  denied,  or  indeed 
deniable.^ 

The  only  question  that  remains  is  to  ascertain  whether 
mutation  is,  in  fact,  the  rule,  or  an  exception.  De  Vries 
states  clearly  that  abrupt  transformation  is  the  rule,  for 
animals  as  for  plants;  and  he  may  well  be  right.  In 
fact  if  the  whole  history  of  transformations  on  the 
evolutionary  scale  is  closely  examined,  it  will  be  found 

*  Cf .  Blaringhem,  Les  Transformations  Brusques  des  Etres  Vivants.-^ 
(Publ.  Flammarion,  Paris.) 

24 


From  the  Uncomdous  to  the  Conscious 

that  the  theory  of  mutations  is  strikingly  confirmed. 
By  its  Hght,  and  with  closer  study,  truths  which  have 
been  ignored  or  unconsciously  slurred  over  become 
immediately  obvious. 

These  truths  had,  however,  been  already  stated  by 
great  naturalists  such  as  Geoffroy  Saint-Hilaire;  but 
they  made  no  way,  and  the  thesis  of  slow  transformations 
found  no  one  to  contradict  it  until  the  work  of  De  Vries 
appeared. 

Starting  from  his  theory  of  mutations,  Cope  resumed 
the  study  of  fossil  forms,  more  especially  of  the 
batrachians  and  mammals  of  America,  and  he  found 
no  difficulty  in  demonstrating  the  probability  of  their 
progressive  variation  by  abrupt  mutations. 

It  is,  moreover,  easy,  on  the  data  of  the  palaeonto- 
logical  records  which  are  *  the  archives  of  creation,'  to 
verify  that  the  appearance  of  most  of  the  main  species, 
always  seems  to  be  abrupt. 

Batrachians,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals  suddenly 
appear  in  the  geologic  strata.  Once  there,  they  seem 
very  rapidly  to  acquire  the  characteristics  which  they  will 
subsequently  retain  without  any  essential  modification 
as  long  as  the  species  remains  in  existence. 

No  doubt,  palaeontology  presents  transitional  forms. 
But  these  are  rare,  and  (a  more  serious  matter)  they 
seem  to  be  intermediary  rather  than  transitional. 

For  example,  let  us  take  the  archeopteryx,  the  most 
remarkable  of  these  intermediate  species.  We  see  a 
bird-reptile,  having  affinities  with  each.  But  its  species 
is  determinate  and  clearly  specialised.  The  archeopteryx 
has  the  constitution  of  the  reptile,  but  it  has  also  well- 
developed  wings,  capable  of  flight,  bird's  wings. 

A  reptile  with  embryonic  wings,  or  wings  indicated 
at  the  beginning  of  their  development,  has  never  been 
found. 

What  is  true  for  the  archeopteryx  is  equally  true  for 
all  known  intermediate  forms;  they  are  all  well  marked, 

25 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

special,  and  very  distinct  types,  allowing  of  the  use  of 
the  organs  characteristic  of  each  species. 

"Whilst  palaeontology  presents  many  rudimentary 
organs,  residues  of  those  which  are  useless  and  dis- 
carded, it  never  shows  organs  outlined  but  as  yet 
unusable. 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  abrupt  transformations  may 
Well  be  the  rule  in  evolution. 

But  it  is  evident  that  the  abrupt  appearances  of  new 
species  can  be  explained  neither  by  natural  selection 
nor  by  the  influence  of  the  environment.  Le  Dantec 
recognises  this  when  he  exclaims,  *  a  mutation  produced 
under  my  eyes  is  a  lock  to  which  I  have  no  key  I '  * 

'  La  Crise  du  Transformistnt, 


CHAPTER  IV 

FAILURE  OF  THE  CLASSICAL  FACTORS  TO  EXPLAIN  THE 
IMMEDIATE  AND  DEFINITIVE  *  CRYSTALLISATION  *  OF 
THE  ESSENTIAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  NEW  SPECIES 
AND    NEW    INSTINCTS 

It  appears  then,  that  whether  we  consider  physical 
characteristics  or  instincts,  both  seem  to  be  immutable. 
They  may  develop  or  atrophy,  and  may  vary  within 
narrow  limits,  but  these  changes  are  always  changes  of 
detail,  never  of  essentials.  This  truth  had  been  clearly 
brought  out  long  before  by  the  researches  of  naturalists : 
De  Vries  brought  to  it  the  support  of  direct  experiment. 
He  reduced  it  to  the  following  law:  *  New  species  become 
stable  immediately.'  This  involves  a  new  and  serious 
objection  to  classical  transformism. 

If  new  species  appear  abruptly  and  immediately 
become  stable,  the  theory  of  innumerable  and  slow 
transformations  under  selective  or  adaptive  influences 
is  definitely  ruined  as  a  general  and  essential  theory. 

The  evolutionary  question  is  no  longer  one  of  a 
vast  accumulation  of  infinitesimal  changes  bringing 
about  the  formation  of  new  species ;  but  of  considerable 
and  abrupt  changes  revealing  themselves  by  the  rapid 
appearance  of  species  that  become  permanent  as  soon 
as  they  have  appeared. 

This  is  an  immense  revolution  in  naturalistic  philos- 
ophy. The  four  difficulties  which  have  just  been 
reviewed  are  of  the  naturalistic  order.  Before  passing  to 
the  fifth,  which  is  of  a  totally  different  kind,  and  of  a 
metaphysical  nature,  I  will  beg  the  reader  who  may  not 

27 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

have  been  convinced  by  the  preceding  demonstration 
of  the  impotence  of  the  classical  factors,  to  turn  his 
thoughts  to  the  precise  and  unanswerable  evidence 
which  Nature  seems  to  have  specially  put  forward  to 
guard  us  from  error.  This  is  the  testimony  of  the 
Insect. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   TESTIMONY    OF    THE    INSECT 

To  consider  the  insect  attentively  is  to  be  convinced  of 
the  emptiness  of  ancient  and  modern  theories  on  the 
creation  or  the  evolution  of  species. 

The  insect,  appearing  in  the  first  ages  of  terrestrial 
life,  and  showing  in  all  cases  the  essential  stability  of 
its  species  once  they  have  appeared,  bears  strong  testi- 
mony against  the  concept  of  continuous  transformations 
by  innumerable  slow  variations. 

The  chasm  which  separates  the  perfect  insect  from 
its  larva — an  abyss  in  which  the  Darwinian  and 
Lamarckian  theories  are  hopelessly  lost — is  testimony 
against  its  evolution  by  the  classical  factors  of  selection 
and  adaptation.  The  disconcerting  and  marvellous 
spectacle  of  its  primary  instincts,  which  those  factors 
are  powerless  to  explain,  is  another  argument  against 
them. 

The  radical,  and  (so  to  speak)  spontaneous  trans- 
formations in  a  closed  chrysalis  almost  isolated  from 
the  action  of  external  agencies,  is  opposed  to  the  concept 
of  evolution  by  such  agencies. 

The  transformations  and  metamorphoses,  and  the 
progressive  or  regressive  changes  of  its  larval  existence 
are  equally  opposed  to  the  concept  of  a  continuous  and 
uninterrupted  evolution  by  functional  assimilation. 

Yet  more  opposed  to  these  is  the  amazing  pheno- 
menon of  histolysis^  in  the  chrysalis,  by  which  most 
of  its  organs  are  reduced  to  an  amorphous  emulsion, 
preparatory  to  the  coming  transformation. 

^  Histolysis. — Gr.  Urrds  =  tissue,  \6<ris  =  solution;   the  solution  of  tissue. 

29 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  stupefying  testimony,  teaching  us  that  neither 
the  radical  changes  in  the  larva,  nor  the  mysterious 
histolysis,  compromise  in  any  way  the  future  morphology 
of  the  perfect  insect,  upsets  all  our  concepts  on  the 
building  up  of  the  organism  and  of  the  transformations 
of  species.^  By  its  whole  biology  the  insect  presents 
the  symbol  of  what  evolution  really  is,  and  as  we  shall 
see  later,  it  proves  that  the  essential  cause  of  evolution 
should  be  sought  neither  in  the  influence  of  the  environ- 
ment, nor  in  the  reactions  of  organic  matter  to  that 
environment ;  but  in  a  dynamism  ^  independent  of  that 
organic  matter  directing  it  and  superior  to  it. 

It  shows  us  evolution  taking  place  primarily  by  an 
internal  impulse  entirely  distinct  from  surrounding 
influences,  by  a  primordial  efibrt,  unerring  but  still 
mysterious  and  absolutely  inexplicable  by  classical 
naturalism. 

Not  only  so:  this  incomparable  testimony,  while  it 
is  the  negation  of  contemporaneous  naturalistic  theories, 
contradicts  also  the  antiquated  concept  of  Providential 
creation. 

From  the  psychological  point  of  view,  the  leading 
characteristic  of  the  insect  is  that  it  possesses  pure 
instinct  almost  without  a  trace  of  intelligence.  Further, 
we  find  that  this  pure  instinct,  which  has  remained 
such  for  ages,  is  marked  by  a  refined  and  cruel  ferocity 
without  counterpart  in  the  rest  of  the  animal  world,  but 
nevertheless  perfectly  innocent. 

This  ferocity  then,  if  there  were  a  responsible 
Creator,  would  be  the  pure,   the  immaculate  work  of 

^  Analogous  to  the  testimony  of  the  insect  is  that  of  certain  species 
of  molluscs  and  crustaceans.  Before  arriving  at  the  adult  form,  animals 
of  these  species  undergo  extraordinary  modifications,  by  very  diverse 
adaptations.  Nevertheless  the  future  development  of  these  animals 
continues  in  despite  of  their  metamorphoses,  as  if  governed  by  an  unalter- 
able and  immanent  directive  principle. 

»  Dynaxnism=  concrete  means  of  power:  holding  the  same  relation 
to  dynamics  as  'mechanism'  to  mechanics. — [Translator's  note.] 

30 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

that  Creator,  whose  creation  would  then  appear  to  be  his 
faithful  reflexion.^ 

It  is  evidently  worth  while  to  consider  the  insect 
and  to  give  its  testimony  due  weight.  If  this  testimony 
had  not  been  so  neglected,  it  would  have  saved  philosophy 
from  many  errors.  Unfortunately,  as  Schopenhauer 
says :  '  We  do  not  understand  the  language  of  Nature, 
because  it  is  too  simple!  * 

^  We  shall  see  that  philosophical  idealism,  based  on  facts,  is  com- 
pletely detached  from  the  old  concepts  of  dogmatic  theology. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FAILURE  OF  THE  CLASSICAL  FACTORS  TO  RESOLVE  THE 
GENERAL  PHILOSOPHICAL  DIFFICULTY  RELATING  TO 
EVOLUTION,  HOW  THE  COMPLEX  CAN  PROCEED  FROM 
THE  SIMPLE,  AND  THE  GREATER  FROM  THE  LESS 

This  difficulty  has  been  entirely  neglected  or  evaded 
by  classical  transformism.  It  is  nevertheless  a  formidable 
one. 

The  spontaneous  appearance  of  forms  superior  to 
the  originals  is  a  pure  impossibility,  alike  from  the 
scientific  and  from  the  philosophic  point  of  view. 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  dilemma:  either  there 
is  no  evolution,  or  it  implies  a  potential  immanence  in 
the  evolving  universe. 

Evolution  being  demonstrated,  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  that  all  the  progressive  and  complex  transforma- 
tions that  have  been  realised  existed  potentially  in  the 
primitive  elementary  forms  or  form. 

This  in  no  way  means  that  evolution,  as  it  has  actually 
come  to  pass,  existed  in  germ  in  such  and  such  a  primi- 
tive form  in  like  manner  as  the  living  creature  exists 
in  germ  in  the  egg  from  which  it  will  be  hatched. 

Such  pre-established  finality  seems  very  highly 
improbable.  The  meaning  is  that  the  primitive  form 
contained  all  potentialities,  those  which  have,  and  those 
which  as  yet  have  not  been  realised;  in  the  past,  the 
present,  and  the  future. 

In  this  philosophical  concept  what  function  is 
assigned  to  the  classical  evolutionary  factors  ? 

Simply  that  they  are  secondary  and  accessory. 

They    have    played    an    obvious    part;     they    have 

32 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

imposed  a  particular  rhythm  on  evolution,  and  have 
favoured  it,  but  they  have  not  produced  it. 

One  might,  strictly  speaking,  imagine  evolution 
proceeding  without  the  intervention  of  selection  or 
adaptation;  but  we  cannot  conceive  it  as  proceeding  by 
them  alone. 

This  is  the  main  conclusion  to  which  we  are  irre- 
sistibly led. 

Thus,  classical  naturalism,  travelling  by  a  very  long 
road,  which  it  has  vainly  explored  in  every  direction, 
finds  itself  willingly  or  unwillingly,  brought  back  to 
seek  the  first  cause  which  it  has  sought  to  avoid.  Its 
avowed  inability  to  find  the  essential  factors  of  evolution 
allows  of  no  more  fresh  starts  on  the  same  road. 

Fiske  said  that  transformism  had  restored  to  the 
world  as  much  *  teleology '  ^  as  it  had  taken  away. 
This  is  not  happily  expressed,  for  it  implies  the  kind 
of  finality  which  would  fix  arbitrarily  and  in  advance 
the  trend  of  evolution. 

But  what  is  indubitable,  and  results  clearly  from  a 
thorough  study  of  transformism,  is  the  conclusion,  that 
evolutionary  science  cannot  dispense  with  philosophy. 

*  Teleology  •  the  doctrine  of  adaptation  to  purpose. 


PART  II 

THE  CLASSICAL  PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL 
CONCEPT  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL 


FOREWORD 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  the  insufficiency  of  the  classical 
concept  of  evolution  as  a  whole  has  been  clearly  brought 
out.  We  shall  now  endeavour  to  show  the  insufficiency 
of  the  classical  concept  of  the  individual. 

This  concept  rests  on  two  principal  notions :  Unicism,^ 
and  the  negation  of  the  unity  of  the  Self. 

Unicism  rejects  the  ancient  spiritualist,  animist,  and 
vitalist  theories  which  advanced  the  claim  that  there  are 
in  the  individual  dynamic  or  psychic  principles  different 
in  essence  from  the  organism. 

It  bases  its  conclusion  on  the  chemical  and  morpho- 
logical unity  of  living  forms;  on  the  absence  of  any 
positive  discontinuity  between  living  and  inert  matter; 
on  the  laws  of  biological  energy,  as  clear  and  precise 
as  those  of  physical  energy  and  in  agreement  with  them. 

The  negation  of  the  unity  of  the  Self  is  similarly 
based  on  the  negation  of  the  spiritualist,  animist,  and 
vitalist  principles,  which,  in  the  old  psycho-physiological 
concepts  separated  human  from  animal  life,  and  that 
from  the  mineral.  These  notions  being  put  aside, 
the  conclusion  is  that  the  Self  is  but  the  synthesis  or 
the  complex  of  the  elements  constituting  the  organism. 

Fundamental  to  a  living  being,  says  Dastre,^  we 
find  *  the  activity  proper  to  each  cell — elementary  or 
cellular  life ;  above  that,  the  forms  of  activity  resulting 
from  the  association  of  cells,  the  collective  life,  the  sum, 
or  rather  the  complex,  of  the  partial  lives  of  its  elements.* 

But  these  two  notions — naturalistic  unicism  and 
negation  of  the  unity  of  the  Self — are  only  connected 
by  a  philosophical  misunderstanding  or  by  a  mere  error 

*  Unicism  =  the  doctrine  of  the  uniformity  of  all  matter. 
•  Dastre  :   La  Vie  et  la  Mart. 

37  B 


Foreword 

of  reasoning.  The  monistic  philosophy  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  the  conception  of  the  Self  as  a  mere  cellular 
complex,  it  even  (as  we  shall  see)  agrees  better  with  the 
opposite  concept  of  its  central  unity. 

If,  abandoning  for  the  moment  all  metaphysical 
ideas  on  the  constitution  of  the  individual,  we  keep 
strictly  to  the  data  of  fact,  we  are  confronted  with  a 
leading  verity:  there  are  in  the  individual  different 
modalities  ^  of  energy,  and  these  modalities,  even  though 
theoretically  conceivable  as  proceeding  from  a  single 
energy,  are  not  equivalent. 

There  are  in  the  living  being  *  material  energy,* 
*  dynamic  energy,*  as  it  may  be  termed,  and  *  psycho- 
logical energy  * ;  and  these  modalities  of  energy  appear 
to  us  to  be  both  distinct  in  themselves  and  graded  with 
respect  to  each  other.     Such  are  the  data  of  fact. 

Starting  from  these  verified  facts  we  can,  without 
losing  our  way  among  metaphysical  notions,  conceive  of 
the  living  being  in  two  different  ways. 

The  first  sees  the  individual  only  as  a  complex  of 
partial  and  elementary  individualities.  In  this  concept, 
the  apparent  grades  observable  in  a  living  being,  are 
simple  functions  of  orientation  and  relative  position. 
This  is  the  classical  concept. 

The  second  sees  the  individual  as  a  complex  yet 
more  complex,  in  which  the  elements  form  autonomous 
and  distinct  cadres — a  graded  hierarchy.  These  cadres 
or  hierarchic  series  are  not,  let  us  repeat,  necessarily 
different  in  essence;  but  they  have  different  activities 
and  capacities,  or  if  the  expression  is  preferred,  are  at 
different  evolutionary  levels. 

We  may  thus  conceive  of  a  dynamic  and  psychological 
cx)mplex  above  the  material  and  organic  complex, 
organising  and  centralising  it;  which  psychological 
complex  might  itself  be  capable  of  rational  sub-division 

^  Modalities  =  modes   in    the    logical    sense,    distinguishing    between 
various  modes. 

38 


Foreword 

up  to  the  discovery  of  the  central  entity,  the  real  Self, 
one  and  indivisible. 

These  two  modes  of  regarding  the  individual  remain 
the  same,  under  whatever  mode,  monist  or  pluralist, 
we  may  regard  things  at  large. 

The  former  concept  has  in  its  favour,  simplicity 
and  the  methodological  principle  of  economy  of  causation. 

Against  it  there  is  the  diversity  between  physio- 
logical and  psychological  facts,  and  the  insurmountable 
difficulty  of  subordinating  the  latter  to  the  former;  and, 
more  especially,  its  flagrant  insufficiency  in  explaining, 
not  merely  psychic  activity,  but  even  vital  activity. 

Methodical  analysis  of  the  classical  concepts  of 
physiological  and  psychological  individuality  will  bring 
this  out. 


CHAPTER   I 

THE  CLASSICAL   NOTION  OF   PHYSIOLOGICAL   INDIVIDUALITY 

The  concept  of  the  physical  Self  as  a  mere  complex  of 
cells  comes  into  collision  with  serious  difficulties.  We 
may  classify  these  like  those  of  the  evolutionary  theories. 
They  are:  difficulties  relating  to  the  general  concept  of 
polyzoism;^  those  relating  to  the  specific  form  of  the 
individual,  to  the  building,  the  maintenance  and  the 
repair  of  the  organism;  those  relating  to  embryonic 
and  post-embryonic  metamorphoses;  and  those  relating 
to  the  so-called  supernormal  physiology. 

I. DIFFICULTIES    RELATING   TO    THE    POLYZOlSi    CONCEPT. 

The    description    given    by    Dastre^    of    physical 
individuality  is  as  follows. 

*  We  imagine  the  complex  living  being,  whether 
plant  or  animal,  with  its  form  that  distinguishes 
it  from  all  others,  as  a  populous  city,  distinguished 
by  a  thousand  traits  from  a  neighbouring  city.  Its 
elements  are  independent  and  autonomous  by  the 
same  title  as  the  anatomical  elements  of  the  organism. 
Each  has  in  itself  the  springs  of  life,  which  it  neither 
borrows  from  its  neighbours  nor  draws  from  the 
community.  All  these  inhabitants  have  a  definite  life, 
and  even  breathe  and  are  nourished  after  the  same 
manner,  possessing  all  the  same  general  human 
faculties;  but  each  has,  over  and  above,  his  own 
trade,  industry,  aptitudes,  and  talents  by  which  he 
contributes  to  the  social  life,  and  in  his  turn  depends 

^  Polyzoism=a  constitution  similar  to  a  colony  of  living  cells  or 
animalcules. 

>  Dafitre :   La  Vie  et  la  Mori. 

40 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

upon  it.  The  statesman,  the  mason,  the  baker,  the 
butcher,  the  manufacturer,  the  artist,  all  perform 
different  tasks  and  supply  different  products,  more 
numerous  and  varied  as  the  social  state  is  more 
perfect.  The  living  being,  whether  plant  or  animal 
is  a  city  of  this  kind.' 

The  grave  objections  to  this  theory  are  immediately 
apparent. 

The  picture  set  before  us  as  that  of  a  living  being 
is  that  of  an  animal  colony  pure  and  simple.  Possibly 
correct  for  some  forms  which  have  only  the  outward 
show  of  individualisation,  for  inferior  animals  of  the 
type  of  zoophytes,  it  cannot  be  considered  true  for 
animals  sharply  marked  off  from  other  orders  of  life. 

In  the  city  described  by  Dastre  the  most  essential 
feature  is  missing:  a  centralised  direction,  which  alone 
is  able,  first  to  unite,  and  then  to  maintain,  to  order,  and 
to  direct  the  State  for  the  common  welfare. 


2. DIFFICULTIES    RELATING    TO    THE    SPECIFIC    FORM    OF 

THE     INDIVIDUAL,    TO    THE    BUILDING,     THE     MAIN- 
TENANCE, AND  THE  REPAIR  OF  THE  ORGANISM. 

The  classical  concept  leaves  unexplained  all  that 
,  relates  to  the  life,  the  formation,  the  development,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  organism.  To  it,  physiology  is 
an  entire  mystery.  That  this  mysteriousness  is  not 
immediately  apparent,  is  due  to  a  well-known  illusion  of 
the  human  mind,  which  is  always  prone  to  think  that  it 
understands  a  thing  merely  because  it  is  familiar.  The 
philosophical  mind  naturally  reacts  against  this  tendency; 
the  many  are  irresistibly  carried  away  by  it.  *  The 
more  unintelligent  a  man  is,*  Schopenhauer  writes,  *  the 
less  mysterious  existence  seems  to  him.  Everything 
seems  to  him  to  carry  in  itself  the  explanation  of  its 
How  and  Why.' 

41 


"From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Now  nothing  is  more  familiar  in  its  main  outline? 
than  the  functioning  of  our  own  organism,  and  nothing 
seems  simpler  to  the  vulgar  mind;  but  in  reality  nothing 
is  more  mysterious. 

What  life  is  in  itself  involves  a  mystery  as  yet 
impenetrable.  The  vital  mechanism,  and  the  activity 
of  the  great  organic  functions,  are  equally  unexplained. 
This  activity,  which  lies  outside  the  conscious  will  of 
the  Self,  is  elaborated  and  completed  unconsciously, 
exactly  as  we  shall  see  is  the  case  in  so-called  super- 
normal physiology.  Normal  function  is  just  as  '  occult  * 
as  that  which  is  called  supernormal. 

Even  the  constitution  of  the  organism  and  all  that 
pertains  to  it,  birth,  growth,  embryonic  development, 
maintenance  of  the  personality  throughout  life,  organic 
repair  (which  in  certain  animals  goes  as  far  as  the  repro- 
duction of  lost  members  and  even  of  viscera),  all  these 
are  so  many  insoluble  enigmas  if  the  classical  concept  of 
individuality  be  accepted. 

Let  us  try,  by  the  light  of  this  concept,  to  understand 
the  building  up  and  the  functioning  of  the  anatomico- 
physiological  individuality,  leaving  purely  philosophical 
and  even  psychological  questions  on  one  side.  Let  us 
look  only  at  the  physical  being,  the  physiological 
individual,  considered  as  a  cellular  complex.  Whence 
and  how  does  the  complex  of  cells  that  makes  up  a 
living  being  draw  its  specific  form  }  How  does  it  keep 
that  form  throughout  its  life  }  How  is  its  physical 
personality  formed,  maintained,  and  repaired  } 

It  is  not  admissible,  let  us  remark,  to  invoke  an 
organising  dynamism,  for  that  is  rejected  by  classical 
physiology.  We  cannot  even  resort  to  the  *  directing 
idea  *  of  Claude  Bernard,  which  is  held  to  be  antiquated. 
How,  then,  does  the  cellular  complex,  by  the  mere  fact 
of  the  association  of  its  constituent  elements,  acquire  this 
vital  and  individualising  power  } 

Whence  ?     How  }     Why  }     Once  more,  so  many 

42 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

mysteries !  Dastre  characterises  as  *  unfathomable  * 
the  mystery  by  which  in  embryonic  development  'the 
ovum-cell,  drawing  to  itself  external  material,  succeeds 
in  building  up  the  marvellous  structure  which  is  the 
body  of  an  animal,  the  body  of  a  man,  even  of  a 
particular  man/  Nevertheless  explanations  have  been 
sought  and  found.  They  are  disconcertingly  feeble. 
Le  Dantec,  for  instance,  declares  that  the  form  of  a 
creature,  and  its  whole  constitution,  necessarily  depend 
on  its  chemical  composition,  on  the  relation  established 
between  the  specific  form  and  this  chemical  composition. 
He  writes  in  all  seriousness  :  *  The  form  of  a  greyhound 
is  simply  the  condition  of  equilibrium  of  the  greyhound 
chemical  substance.* 

*  This,*  remarks  Dastre  *  is  saying  a  great  deal  too 
much,  if  it  means  that  the  body  of  the  dog  is  "  a 
substance  '*    which    behaves    after    the    fashion    of 
homogeneous  isotropical  masses  like  melted  sulphur 
or  dissolved  salt:   it  is  better,  but  means  much  less, 
if  it  signifies  in  the  mind  of  the  physiologist  that 
the   body   of  the    greyhound   is   the   condition   of 
equilibrium  of  a  heterogeneous,  non-isotropic,  material 
system    under    infinitely    numerous    chemical    and 
physical  conditions.     The  idea  of  attributing  form 
— and  therefore  organisation — only  to  chemical  com- 
position, has  not  had  its  birth  from  the  mind  of 
chemists,  nor  from  that  of  physiologists.' 
In  reality  the  supposed  explanation  by  Le  Dantec  is 
nothing  but  a  verbal  explanation,  which  substitutes  one 
difficulty  for  another.     Instead  of  the  question:    How 
is  the  specific  form  realised  }    we  are  led,  if  we  admit 
Le  Dantec's  hypothesis,  to  ask:    How  is  the  condition 
of  chemical  equilibrium  which  is  the  basis  of  the  specific 
form,  realised  and  maintained.?     The  mystery  is  just 
as  great  as  before.     But  even  taken  as  it  stands,  the 
hypothesis     cannot     be     sustained,     for    it    can    give 
no  account,  as  we  shall  see  later   on,   of  the  changes 

43 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

undergone  by  the  organism  during  embryonic  develop- 
ment. 

As  the  classical  concept  of  the  Self  cannot  account 
for  the  building  up  of  the  organism  and  its  specific 
form,  so  also  it  cannot  explain  how  this  organism  main- 
tains and  repairs  itself  during  life. 

Nothing  is  more  curious  than  the  efforts  of  naturalists 
and  physiologists  to  explain  individual  permanence  in 
despite  of  perpetual  cellular  renewal. 

Claude  Bernard  sought  to  demonstrate  that  vital 
functions  are  necessarily  accompanied  by  organic  destruc- 
tion and  regeneration. 

*  When  there  is  movement,*  he  says,^  *  in  a  man 
or  an  animal,  a  part  of  the  active  substance  of  the 
muscle  is  destroyed  or  burned;   when  sensation  and 
will  are  manifested,  the  nerves  are  used  up;    when 
thought  is  exercised,  the  brain  is  consumed  in  some 
measure.     It  may  be  said  that  the  same  matter  is 
never   used    twice    during   life.     When    an   act    is 
accomplished,  that  portion  of  living  matter  which 
has  served  to  produce  it  exists  no  longer.      If  the 
phenomenon  is   repeated,   it  is  by  the  aid  of  new 
matter.  ...  In  a  word,  physico-chemical  destruction 
is  everywhere  conjoined  with  functional  activity,  and 
we  may  regard  as  a  physiological  axiom  the  proposi- 
tion :    Every  manifestation  of  action  in  a  living  being 
is  necessarily  connected  with  organic  destruction.* 
But    this    axiom    is    impugned    by    contemporary 
physiologists.      In  opposition  to  Claude  Bernard,  their 
efforts  tend  to  establish,   that  really  living  substance, 
protoplasm,  is  much  less  destroyed  during  life  than  was 
imagined.     Cellular  renovation,  according  to  them,  is 
very  slight.     (Chauveau,  Pfltiger.) 

Certain  physiologists  (Marinesco)  have  not  hesitated 
to  ascribe  indefinite  duration  to  the  cerebral  cells. 

Finally,  Le  Dantec,  going  further  still,  declares  that 

^  Claude  Bernard  :  Les  PMnomines  de  la  VU, 

44 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

not  only  is  living  matter  not  destroyed  by  use,  but  that 
it  increases. 

It  would  seem  that  nothing  should  be  easier  than 
to  decide  experimentally  the  problem  of  cellular  destruc- 
tion, by  quantitative  analysis  of  the  nitrogenous  waste 
in  the  urine.  In  fact  it  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  the  part  that  comes  from  the  albuminoids  in 
food,  and  that  which  comes  from  waste  of  the  organism; 
and  the  best  conducted  researches  such  as  those  of  Igo 
Kaup  still  give  uncertain  results. 

But  in  default  of  proof  from  the  laboratory,  reasoning 
suffices  to  prove  the  perpetual  destruction  and  restora- 
tion of  cellular  protoplasm. 

At  the  outset  and,  a  priori,  without  need  of  demonstra- 
tion, it  seems  that  such  a  tiny  element  as  the  living  cell 
should  necessarily  have  short  life;  much  shorter  in  any 
case,  than  that  of  the  organism  to  which  it  belongs.  It 
would  therefore  be  renewed  x  times  during  the  life  of 
that  organism. 

Further,  the  imperious  necessity  for  ingestion  by  the 
living  being  of  nitrogenous  elements  in  considerable 
quantity  can  be  explained  only  by  the  needs  of  cellular 
regeneration.  Otherwise  we  should  be  driven  to  the 
absurd  supposition  that  the  nitrogen  is  ingested  to  be 
immediately  eliminated,  and  is  not  an  indispensable 
nutriment,  while  the  contrary  is  well  established. 

Therefore,  even  if  further  research  should  prove 
that  the  living  cell  remains  intact,  as  a  framework, 
throughout  life,  that  would  by  no  means  imply  that  it 
remains  intact  as  to  its  constituent  molecules. 

The  problem  of  molecular  renewal  replaces  that  of 
cellular  renewal,  and  the  question  remains  neither  more 
nor  less  mysterious.  Thus  the  *  directive  idea  *  neces- 
sarily presides  over  the  maintenance  of  the  personalit}''  as 
it  presides  at  its  building  up. 

The  difficulties  which  we  have  rapidly  reviewed  are 
already  considerable;   but  they  are  as  nothing  compared 

45' 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

with  those  that  we  shall  now  examine.  The  problems  of 
embryonic  and  post-embryonic  metamorphoses,  and  the 
problem  of  so-called  supernormal  physiology,  if  we  take 
the  trouble  to  look  at  them  conjointly,  enable  us  to  affirm 
that  the  classical  concept  of  physical  individuality  is 
erroneous,  and  that  the  living  being  is  quite  other  than 
a  cellular  complex. 

"We  shall  probe  to  the  quick  the  fundamental  defect 
of  the  ascending  method  which  strives  to  adapt  an 
explanation  to  simple  or  relatively  simple  facts,  while 
evading  the  inherent  difficulties  of  complex  or  relatively 
complex  facts. 

If  we  look  at  physiology  as  a  whole  and  synthetically, 
without  putting  aside  these  primordial  difficulties;  and, 
a  fortiori^  if  we  give  weight  to  them,  then  the  concept 
that  results  is  undeniably  and  evidently  quite  opposed 
to  that  which  some  have  sought  to  deduce  from  mediocre, 
narrow,  and  tentative  analytical  researches. 


3. ^THE    PROBLEM    OF    EMBRYONIC   AND    POST-EMBRYONIC 

METAMORPHOSES. 

It  is  well  known  that  embryonic  and  post-embryonic 
development,  far  from  being  uniform,  proceeds  by  a 
series  of  metamorphoses.  These  sometimes  retrace  the 
previous  evolutionary  changes  of  the  species,  and  some- 
times reflect  the  divergent  adaptations  realised  during 
larval  life.  Metamorphoses  are  common  to  all  animals, 
but  are  specially  remarkable  among  those  which  have 
a  prolonged  larval  life  after  leaving  the  c^q,  such  as 
batrachians,  molluscs,  and  annelids.  By  these  changes 
the  development  of  the  animal  assumes  successive  forms, 
very  different  from  one  another,  before  reaching  the 
definitive  adult  shape.  These  facts  are  a  complete 
negation  of  the  classical  theories  on  the  building  up  of 
the  organism. 

46 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Let  us  return  to  Le  Dantec's  explanation  of  specific 
form.  Are  we  to  admit  that  the  conditions  of  chemical 
equilibrium,  which  is  its  supposed  basis,  continually 
change  during  the  development  of  an  animal,  and  change 
in  a  given  sense  following  a  pre-determined  direction 
leading  to  the  adult  form  ?  So  be  it;  but  this  is  once 
more  to  have  recourse  to  the  *  directing  idea,'  in  other 
words,  to  restore  to  physiology  all  the  finality  which  it 
claimed  to  discard. 

The  tadpole  has  all  the  organs,  the  constitution, 
and  the  mode  of  life  of  a  fish.  Suddenly,  without  change 
of  environment  or  mode  of  life,  its  conditions  of  chemical 
equilibrium  are  about  to  alter.  They  will  be  modified 
in  such  a  manner,  according  to  Le  Dantec,  that  legs 
will  appear,  that  lungs  will  replace  gills,  that 
the  heart  with  two  cavities  will  become  one  with 
three  cavities;  in  short,  that  the  fish  will  become  a 
frog! 

Consider  the  medusa.  Its  successive  larval  forms  are 
so  different  from  each  other  that  they  were  long  taken 
for  distinct  animals. 

How  is  the  genesis  of  these  successive  forms  to  be 
explained  by  modifications  in  the  chemical  equili- 
brium } 

In  these  metamorphoses  of  embryonic  life  there  is  a 
double  problem.  First  the  problem  of  the  metamorphoses 
themselves.  How  do  they  come  about  ?  How  do  they 
recall  either  the  transitional  forms  of  the  evolutionary 
ancestry,  or  the  details  of  divergent  larval  adaptations  } 
Where,  and  how,  is  the  ineffaceable  imprint  of  these 
ancestral  forms  and  adaptations  preserved  } 

Then  there  is  the  problem  of  the  individual  expansion. 
How  is  it  that  these  changes  do  not  interfere  with  its 
reaching  the  definite  adult  form  }  How  is  it  that  this 
form  is  always  attained,  certainly  and  without  fail .''  If 
we  see  nothing  in  the  individual  but  a  cellular  complex, 
the  double  problem  cannot  be  solved. 

47 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  mystery  becomes  clearer  only  if  it  be  admitted 
that  above  the  metamorphoses,  above  the  organic  and 
physiological  modifications  and  the  revolutions  in  the 
chemical  equilibrium  of  life,  there  exists  the  directive 
dominant  of  a  superior  dynamism. 


4. THE    HISTOLYSIS  OF  THE  INSECT 

It  is  in  the  post-embryonic  development  of  certain 
insects  that  the  evidence  of  this  dominant  appears  in 
the  most  striking  manner.  As  is  well  known,  certain 
insects  undergo  their  last  and  greatest  transformation 
in  the  chrysalis.  They  are  then  subject  to  an  extremely 
curious  change — histolysis. 

In  the  protective  envelope  of  the  chrysalis,  which  shuts 
off  the  animal  from  light  and  from  external  perturbing 
influences,  a  strange  elaboration  takes  place,  singularly 
like  that  which  will  presently  be  described  under  the 
head  of  the  so-called  supernormal  physiology.  The 
body  of  the  insect  is  dematerialised.  It  is  disintegrated,  and 
melts  into  a  kind  of  uniform  pap,  a  simple  amorphous 
substance  in  which  the  majority  of  organic  and  specific 
distinctions  disappear.  There  is  the  bare  fact  in  all  its 
import. 

Doubtless  the  question  of  histolysis  is  far  from  being 
fully  elucidated.  Since  its  discovery  by  Weissmann  in 
1864,  naturalists  have  not  been  able  to  come  to  entire 
agreement  on  the  extent  of  the  dissolution  nor  on  its 
mechanism.  It  is,  however,  well  established,  *  that  when 
the  larva  becomes  immobile  and  is  transformed  into  a 
pupa,  most  of  its  tissues  disappear  by  histolysis.  The 
tissues  thus  destroyed  are  the  hypodermic  cells  of  the 
first  four  segments,  the  breathing  tubes,  the  muscles, 
the  fatty  body  and  the  peripheral  nerves.  Of  these 
there  remain  no  visible  cellular  elements.     At  the  same 

48 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

time  the  cells  of  the  middle  intestine  assemble  in  a 
central  mass,  making  a  sort  of  magma.*  ^ 

Then  a  new  generation  of  tissue  takes  place,  partly 
from  the  magma  resulting  from  the  histolysis,  partly 
from  the  proliferation  of  special  corpuscles  called  image- 
bearing  discs.  The  newly-formed  portions  of  the 
organism  thus  seem  to  have  no  direct  filiation  with  the 
destroyed  parts  of  the  larval  organism. 

Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  the  evidence  of  such  facts 
upsets  all  the  classical  biologic  concepts — chemical 
equilibrium  as  conditioning  specific  form,  cellular 
affinity,  functional  assimilation,  the  animal  as  a  cellular 
complex,  all  become  so  many  vain  formulae  and  non- 
sense 1 

Either  we  must  be  content  to  bow  before  the  mystery 
and  declare  it  impenetrable,  or  we  must  have  the 
courage  to  avow  that  classical  physiology  has  lost  its 
way. 

In  order  to  understand  all  these — the  mystery  of 
specific  form,  embryonic  and  post-embryonic  develop- 
ment, the  constitution  and  maintenance  of  the  personality, 
organic  repair,  and  all  the  other  general  problems  of 
biology — it  is  necessary  and  sufficient  to  accept  a  notion, 
which  is  certainly  not  new,  but  is  placed  in  a  new  light, 
the  notion  of  a  dynamism  superior  to  the  organism  and 
conditioning  it. 

This  is  not  the  *  directive  idea '  of  Claude  Bernard, 
which  is  a  kind  of  abstraction,  an  incomprehensible 
metaphysico-biological  entity.  This  is  a  concrete  idea 
— that  of  a  directing  and  centralising  dynamism,  domin- 
ating both  intrinsic  and  extrinsic  contingencies,  the 
chemical  reactions  of  the  organic  medium,  and  the 
influences  of  the  external  environment. 

We  shall  find  the  existence  of  this  dynamism  affirmed 
in  like  manner,  not  more  certainly,  but  more  evidentially, 
in  the  so-called  supernormal  physiology.    There  indeed 

*  F61ix  Henneguy  :   Les  Insectes. 

49 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  manifestations  of  the  physiological  dynamism  pass 
outside  the  limits  of  the  organism,  are  separate  from  it 
and  act  outside  it.  Yet  more,  it  can  partially  disintegrate 
the  organism  and  with  its  substance,  can  reconstitute 
new  organic  forms  exterior  to  it,  or,  to  use  the  correct 
philosophical  formula,  can  make  new  representations,* 

^  Vid*  Translator's  Note,  p.  viii. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    SUPERNORMAL    PHYSIOLOGY 

No  one  nowadays  is  ignorant  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
so-called  supernormal  physiology.  It  is  manifested  in 
persons  of  special  gifts  and  constitutions,  called  mediums, 
by  dynamic  and  material  effects  inexplicable  by  the 
regular  play  of  their  organs  and  transcending  the  field 
of  organic  action. 

The  most  important  and  complex  phenomena  of 
this  so-called  supernormal  physiology  are  those  called 
materialisation  and  dematerialisation.  Conformably  to 
our  method,  these  are  the  only  ones  which  we  shall  first 
endeavour  to  understand,  in  order,  later,  to  apply  the 
solution  of  the  problem  to  other  less  important  facts 
of  the  same  order,  such  as  the  movements  of  objects 
without  contact. 


I . MATERIALISATIONS 

I  have  no  intention  of  making  here  a  historical  or 
critical  study  of  materialisations,  a  study  which  the 
reader  will  find  in  the  special  works  named  below.^  I 
shall  only  bring  my  personal  contribution  to  the  analysis 
and  synthesis  of  this  phenomenon,  which  is  of  primary 

*  Works  to  consult :  Aksakoff  :  Animisme  ei  Spiritisme;  J.  Bisson  : 
Les  Phinomdnes  dits  de  M aUrialisation ;  Crookes  :  Researches  in  the 
Phenomena  of  Spiritualism  ;  Delanne  :  Les  Apparitions  Matirialisles  ; 
D'Esperance  :  Au  Pays  de  V Ombre  ;  Flammarion  :  Les  Forces  Naturelles 
Inconnues ;  Maxwell :  Psychic  Phenomena ;  Richet :  Etudes  sur  les 
Materialisations  de  la  Villa  Carmen  ;  Dr  Schrenck-Notzing  :  Matirialisa- 
tivns  Phinomines  ;   De  Rocbas  :    CEuvres  Completes. 

51 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

importance  since  more  certainly  than  any  other  it  reverses 
the  very  foundations  of  physiology. 

The  sequence  of  materialisation  may  be  summed  up 
as  under  : — 

From  the  body  of  the  medium  there  exudes,  or  is 
exteriorised,  a  substance  at  first  amorphous  or  poly- 
morphous. This  substance  takes  on  diverse  forms, 
usually  representations  of  more  or  less  complex  organs. 

We  may  therefore  consider  in  turn: — 

1,  The  substance  which  is  the  substratum  of  the 

materialisations; 

2.  Its  organised  representations. 

This  substance  may  be  exteriorised  in  a  gaseous  or 
vaporous  form,  or  again  as  a  liquid  or  a  solid. 

The  vaporous  form  is  the  more  frequent  and  the 
best  known.  Near  the  medium  there  is  outlined  or 
amassed  a  kind  of  visible  vapour,  a  sort  of  fog,  often 
connected  with  the  body  of  the  medium  by  a  thin  link 
of  the  same  substance.  In  different  parts  of  this  fog 
there  then  appears  what  resembles  a  condensation, 
which  M.  Le  Cour  has  ingeniously  compared  to  the 
supposed  formation  of  nebulae.  These  areas  of  con- 
densation finally  take  the  appearance  of  organs,  whose 
development  is  very  rapidly  completed. 

This  substance  of  materialisation  is  more  amenable 
to  examination  under  its  liquid  or  solid  forms.  Its 
change  into  organs  is  then  sometimes  slower.  It  remains 
longer  in  the  amorphous  state,  and  allows  of  a  more 
precise  notion  of  the  genesis  of  the  phenomenon. 

It  has  been  observed  under  this  form,  from  several 
mediums,  especially  from  the  famous  medium  Eglinton.* 
But  it  is  from  the  medium  Eva  that  this  solid  substance 
is  generated  with  astonishing  completeness.  The  reader 
should  refer  to  the  books  of  Mme  Bisson  and  of  Dr 
Schrenck-Notzing  for  the  description  of  the  innumerable 
forms  that  it  takes. 

*■  Delanne  :  Les  Apparitions  MaUrialisies,  vol.  ii.  pp.  642  et  seq. 

52 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Having  trained  and  educated  Eva,  Mme  Bisson 
has  been  able  during  long  years  of  research  to  study 
at  her  leisure  this  phenomenon  whose  scientific  import 
has  long  remained  unrealised.  Her  book  is  therefore 
a  mine  of  documentary  evidence  generously  offered  to 
scientific  and  philosophic  minds. 

The  work  of  Dr  Schrenck-Notzing  is  a  methodical 
and  complete  account  of  his  studies  on  the  same  medium ; 
it  is  drawn  up  with  skill,  it  is  clear,  exact,  and  provided 
with  references;  it  contains  also  the  record  of  similar 
experiments  with  another  medium  having  the  same 
faculties  as  Eva. 

Thanks  to  the  complaisance  and  goodwill  of  Mme 
Bisson,  I  had  the  honour  and  privilege  of  studying 
Eva  with  her  for  a  year  and  a  half,  at  bi-weekly  seances, 
held  at  first  in  her  house,  and  afterwards,  for  three 
consecutive  months,  exclusively  in  my  own  laboratory .1 

After  my  study  of  Eva,  I  was  able  to  verify 
analogous  though  elementary  phenomena  in  new  subjects 
from  whom  I  endeavoured  to  induce  materialisations. 

I  shall  now  give  a  synthetic  resume  of  my  experiments 
and  records;  and  it  is  my  own  testimony  only  that  I 
give  in  this  book,  a  testimony  in  complete  accord  with 
that  of  a  very  large  number  of  men  of  science,  chiefly 
physicians,  who  are  to-day  completely  convinced  of  the 
authenticity  of  this  phenomenon,  although  for  the 
most  part  starting  from  absolute  scepticism. 

I  have  been  able  to  see,  to  touch,  and  to  photograph 
the  materialisations  of  which  I  am  about  to  write. 

I  have  frequently  followed  the  event  from  its 
beginning  to  its  end;  for  it  was  formed,  developed, 
and  disappeared  under  my  own  eyes.  However  unex- 
pected, strange  or  impossible  such  a  manifestation  may 

*  The  results  were  the  subject  of  a  conference  at  the  College  de  France, 
published  under  the  title.  La  Physiologic  dite  Super anormale.  This  will 
be  found,  illustrated  by  24  photogravures  in  the  Bulletin  de  I'lnstitut 
Physiologique  of  January- June,  1918,  published  at  No.  143  Boulevard 
Saint-Michel,  Paris.     Now  reproduced  in  the  Appendix,  p.  328. 

53  F 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

appear,  I  have  no  right  to  put  forward  the  slightest 
doubt  as  to  its  reaUty.  With  Eva,  the  mode  of  operation 
necessary  to  obtain  materialisations  is  very  simple:  the 
medium,  after  having  been  seated  in  the  dark  cabinet,  is 
put  into  the  hypnotic  state,  slightly,  but  enough  to 
involve  forgetfulness  of  the  normal  personality.  This 
dark  cabinet  has  no  other  purpose  than  to  protect  the 
sleeping  medium  from  disturbing  influences,  and  specially 
from  the  action  of  light.  It  is  thus  possible  to  keep  the 
stance-room  sufficiently  well  lit  for  perfect  obser- 
vation. 

The  phenomena  appear  (when  they  do  appear)  after 
a  variable  interval,  sometimes  very  brief,  sometimes  an 
hour  or  m.ore.  They  always  begin  by  painful  sensations 
in  the  medium;  she  sighs  and  moans  from  time  to  time 
much  like  a  woman  in  childbirth.  These  moans  reach 
their  height  just  when  the  manifestation  begins,  they 
lessen  or  cease  when  the  forms  are  complete. 

There  first  appear  luminous  liquid  patches  from  the 
size  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  crown-piece,  scattered  here  and 
there  over  her  black  smock,  principally  on  the  left  side. 

This  constitutes  a  premonitory  phenomenon,  appear- 
ing sometimes  three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  an  hour 
before  the  other  phenomena.  Sometimes  it  is  omitted, 
and  sometimes  it  appears  without  being  followed  by 
anything  more.  The  substance  exudes  specially  from 
the  natural  orifices  and  the  extremities,  from  the  top 
of  the  head,  from  the  nipples,  and  the  ends  of  the  fingers. 

The  most  frequent  and  most  easily  observed  origin 
is  from  the  mouth ;  the  substance  is  then  seen  to  proceed 
from  the  interior  surface  of  the  cheeks,  the  roof  of  the 
palate,  and  the  gums. 

The  substance  has  variable  aspects;  sometimes,  and 
most  characteristically,  it  appears  as  a  plastic  paste,  a 
true  protoplasmic  mass;  sometimes  as  a  number  of  fine 
threads;  sometimes  as  strings  of  different  thickness  in 
narrow  and  rigid  lines;    sometimes  as  a  wide  band; 

54 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

sometimes  as  a  fine  tissue  of  ill-defined  and  irregular 
shape.  The  most  curious  form  of  all  is  that  of  a  wide- 
spread membrane  with  swellings,  and  fringes,  whose 
general  appearance  is  remarkably  like  that  of  the 
epiploon  (caul).  In  fine,  the  substance  is  essentially 
amorphous,  or  rather,  polymorphous. 

The  quantity  of  the  substance  exteriorised  is  very 
variable;  sometimes  there  is  extremely  little,  sometimes 
it  is  abundant,  with  all  intermediate  degrees.  In  certain 
cases  it  covers  the  medium  completely,  like  a  cloak. 
It  may  show  three  different  colours;  white,  black,  or 
gray.  The  white  seems  the  more  frequent  form,  perhaps 
because  it  is  the  easiest  to  observe.  The  three  colours 
are  sometimes  seen  simultaneously.  The  visibility  of 
this  substance  is  also  very  variable.  Its  visibility  may 
wax  and  wane  slowly  and  repeatedly.  To  the  touch  it 
gives  very  different  sensations,  usually  having  some 
relation  to  the  form  of  the  moment;  it  seems  soft  and 
somewhat  elastic  while  spreading;  hard,  knotty,  or 
fibrous  when  it  forms  cords. 

Sometimes  it  feels  like  a  spider's  web  touching  the 
hand  of  the  observer.  The  threads  of  the  substance 
are  both  stiff  and  elastic.  It  is  mobile.  Sometimes  it 
is  slowly  evolved,  rises  and  falls,  and  moves  over  the 
medium's  shoulders,  her  breast,  or  her  lap  with  a  crawling, 
reptilian  movement;  sometimes  its  motion  is  abrupt  and 
rapid,  it  appears  and  disappears  like  a  flash. 

It  is  extremely  sensitive,  and  its  sensitiveness  is 
closely  connected  with  that  of  hyperaesthetised  medium; 
and  touch  reacts  painfully  on  the  latter.  If  the  touch 
should  be  at  all  rough  or  prolonged  the  medium 
shows  pain  which  she  compares  to  a  touch  on  raw 
flesh. 

The  substance  is  sensitive  even  to  light-rays;  a 
light,  especially  if  sudden  and  unexpected,  produces  a 
painful  start  in  the  medium.  However,  nothing  is  more 
variable  than  the  light-effects ;  in  some  cases  the  substance 

55 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

can  stand  even  full  daylight.  The  magnesium  flashlight 
causes  a  violent  start  in  the  medium,  but  it  is  borne, 
and  allows  of  instantaneous  photographs. 

In  the  effects  of  light  on  the  substance,  and  its 
repercussion  on  the  medium,  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  real  pain  and  mere  reflex;  both,  whether  pain 
or  reflex,  impede  investigation.  For  this  reason  the 
phenomena  have  as  yet  not  been  cinematographed.  To 
Its  sensitiveness  the  substance  seems  to  add  a  kind  of 
instinct  not  unlike  that  of  the  self-protection  of  the 
invertebrates;  it  would  seem  to  have  all  the  distrust  of 
a  defenceless  creature,  or  one  whose  sole  defence  is  to 
re-enter  the  parent  organism.  It  shrinks  from  all  con- 
tacts and  is  always  ready  to  avoid  them  and  to  be 
re-absorbed. 

It  has  an  immediate  and  irresistible  tendency  towards 
organisation;  not  remaining  long  in  its  first  state.  It 
often  happens  that  this  organisation  is  so  rapid  as  not 
to  permit  of  the  primordial  substance  being  seen.  At 
other  times  the  amorphous  substance  may  be  observed 
with  more  or  less  complete  representations  immersed 
in  its  mass;  for  instance,  a  finger  may  be  seen  hanging 
in  the  midst  of  fringes  of  the  substance;  even  heads 
and  faces  are  sometimes  seen  enwrapped  by  it. 

I  now  come  to  the  representations;  they  are  of  the 
most  diverse  character.  Sometimes  they  are  indeter- 
minate, inorganic  forms ;  but  more  often  they  are  organic, 
of  varying  complexity  and  completeness. 

Different  observers — Crookes  and  Richet  among 
others — have,  as  is  well  known,  described  complete 
materialisations,  not  of  phantoms  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  word,  but  of  beings  having  for  the  moment  all 
the  vital  particulars  of  living  beings ;  whose  hearts  beat, 
whose  lungs  breathe,  and  whose  bodily  appearance  is 
perfect. 

I  have  not,  alas,  observed  phenomena  so  complete, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,   I  have  very  frequently  seen 

56 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

complete  representations  of  an  organ,  such  as  a  face,  a 
hand,  or  a  finger. 

In  the  more  complete  cases  the  materialised  organ 
has  all  the  appearance  and  biologic  functions  of  a  living 
organ.  I  have  seen  admirably  modelled  fingers,  with 
their  nails;  I  have  seen  complete  hands  with  bones  and 
joints;  I  have  seen  a  living  head,  whose  bones  I  could 
feel  under  a  thick  mass  of  hair.  I  have  seen  well- 
formed  living  and  human  faces! 

On  many  occasions  these  representations  have  been 
formed  from  beginning  to  end  under  my  own  eyes. 
I  have,  for  instance,  seen  the  substance  issue  from  the 
hands  of  the  medium  and  link  them  together  ;  then, 
the  medium  separating  her  hands,  the  substance  has 
lengthened,  forming  thick  cords,  has  spread,  and  formed 
fringes  like  epiploic  fringes.  Lastly,  in  the  midst  of 
these  fringes,  there  has  appeared  by  progressive  repre- 
sentation, perfectly  organised  fingers,  a  hand,  or  a  face. 
In  other  cases  I  have  witnessed  an  analogous  organisation 
in  substance  issuing  from  the  mouth. 

Here  is  one  example  taken  from  my  notebook: 
*  From  the  mouth  of  Eva  there  descends  to  her  knees  a 
cord  of  white  substance  of  the  thickness  of  two  fingers ; 
this  ribbon  takes  under  our  eyes  varying  forms,  that 
of  a  large  perforated  membrane,  with  swellings  and 
vacant  spaces;  it  gathers  itself  together,  retracts,  swells, 
and  narrows  again.  Here  and  there  from  the  mass  appear 
temporary  protrusions,  and  these  for  a  few  seconds 
assume  the  form  of  fingers,  the  outline  of  hands,  and 
then  re-enter  the  mass.  Finally  the  cord  retracts  on 
itself,  lengthens  to  the  knees,  its  end  rises,  detaches 
itself  from  the  medium,  and  moves  towards  me.  I  then 
see  the  extremity  thicken  like  a  swelling,  and  this  terminal 
swelling  expands  into  a  perfectly  modelled  hand.  I 
touch  it;  it  gives  a  normal  sensation;  I  feel  the  bones, 
and  the  fingers  with  their  nails.  Then  the  hand  con- 
tracts,  diminishes,   and  disappears  in  the  end  of  the 

57 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

cord.  The  cord  makes  a  few  movements,  retracts,  and 
returns  into  the  medium's  mouth.* 

It  is  possible  to  observe  the  vaporous  form  of  the 
substance  at  the  same  time  as  its  soHd  form;  it  emerges 
from  the  body  of  the  medium  invisible  and  impalpable, 
no  doubt  through  the  meshes  of  the  clothing,  and 
condenses  on  the  surface  of  this  latter,  appearing  as  a 
small  cloud  which  develops  into  a  white  spot  on  the 
black  smock,  at  the  level  of  the  shoulders,  the  breast, 
or  the  knees.  The  spot  grows,  spreads,  and  takes  on 
the  outlines  or  the  reliefs  of  a  hand  or  a  face. 

Whatever  may  be  the  mode  of  its  formation  the 
materialisation  does  not  always  remain  in  contact  with 
the  medium;  it  may  sometimes  be  observed  quite 
detached:  the  following  example  is  typical  in  this 
respect : — 

*  A  head  appears  suddenly,  about  three-fourths  of 
a  yard  from  Eva's  head,  above,  and  to  her  right.  It  is 
the  head  of  a  man,  of  normal  size,  well  formed  and  in 
the  usual  relief.  The  top  of  the  head  and  the  forehead 
are  completely  materialised.  The  forehead  is  large  and 
high,  the  hair  short  and  abundant,  brown  or  black. 
Below  the  brows  the  contours  shade  off;  only 
the  top  of  the  head  and  the  forehead  are  clearly 
seen. 

*  The  head  disappears  for  a  moment  behind  the 
curtain,  then  reappears  as  before;  but  the  face,  incom- 
pletely materialised,  is  masked  by  a  band  of  white 
substance.  I  put  my  hand  forward  and  pass  my  fingers 
through  the  tufted  hair  and  feel  the  bone  of  the  cranium 
...  an  instant  later  everything  has  vanished.'  The 
forms  have,  it  will  be  observed,  a  certain  independence, 
and  this  independence  is  both  physiological  and 
anatomical. 

The  materialised  organs  are  not  inert,  but  biologically 
alive.  A  well-formed  hand,  for  instance,  has  the 
functional  capacities  of  a  normal  hand.     I  have  several 

58 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

times  been  intentionally  touched  by  a  hand  or  grasped 
by  its  fingers. 

The  most  remarkable  materialisations  which  I  have 
myself  observed  are  those  produced  by  Eva  in  my 
laborator}'^,  during  three  consecutive  months  of  the 
winter  of  1917-1918.  In  the  bi-weekly  seances  in 
collaboration  with  Madame  Bisson,  the  Medical  Inspector 
General, — M.  Calmette,  M.  Jules  Courtier,  and  M.  Le 
Cour,  we  obtained  a  series  of  records  of  the  greatest 
interest.  We  saw,  touched,  and  photographed  repre- 
sentations of  heads  and  faces  formed  from  the  original 
substance.  These  were  formed  under  our  eyes,  the 
curtains  being  half-drawn.  Sometimes  they  proceeded 
from  a  cord  of  solid  substance  issuing  from  the  medium, 
sometimes  they  were  progressively  developed  in  a  fog 
of  vaporous  substance  condensed  in  front  of  her,  or  at 
her  side.  For  reproductions  of  some  of  these  photo- 
graphs see  the  Appendix,  p.  328. 

In  the  former  case,  when  the  materialisation  was 
fully  formed,  traces  more  or  less  marked  of  the  original 
cord  of  substance  could  be  seen. 

The  materialised  forms,  photographs  of  which  were 
given  in  my  study  on  so-called  Supernormal  Physiology 
and  are  reproduced  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  were 
remarkable  from  several  points  of  view. 

1.  They  were  always  three-dimensional.    During  the 

stances  I  could  convince  myself  of  this  by 
sight,  and  on  several  occasions  by  touch. 
Moreover,  the  relief  is  evident  in  the  stereo- 
scopic pictures  taken. 

2.  The  different  faces  in  this  series  presented  some 

similarities  together  with  great  differences : — 

Differences  in  the  features; 

Differences  in  the  size  of  the  forms,  some 
less  than  natural  size,  but  of  dimensions  variable 
from  one  seance  to  another,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  same  seance; 

59 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Differences  in  the  perfection  of  the  features, 
these  being  sometimes  quite  regular,  in  other 
cases  defective; 

Differences  in  the  degree  of  materialisation, 
which    was    sometimes    complete;     sometimes 
incomplete,  with  rudiments  or  substance;  some- 
times merely  indicated. 
I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  interesting  nature,  from 
every  point  of  view,  of  these  rudiments  of  substance. 
The  importance  of  rudiments  in  *  metapsychical  embry- 
ology '  is  comparable  with  their  importance  in  normal 
embryology.     They  give  evidence  as  to  the  origin  and 
the  genesis  of  the  formations. 

The  better  materialised  the  forms  were,  the  more 
power  of  self- direction  (autonomic)  they  seemed  to  have. 
They  evolved  round  Eva,  sometimes  at  some  distance 
from  her.  One  of  these  faces  appeared  first  at  the  opening 
of  the  curtain,  of  natural  size,  very  beautiful  and  with  a 
remarkably  life-like  appearance. 

At  another  stance,  through  the  curtain  of  the 
cabinet,  I  could  feel  with  my  hands  the  contact  of  a 
human  body  which  caused  the  curtain  to  undulate. 
(Eva  was  stretched  out  in  the  arm-chair,  in  full  sight, 
and  her  hands  were  held.) 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  usual  precautions 
were  rigorously  observed  during  the  stances  in  my 
laboratory.  On  coming  into  the  room  where  the  stances 
were  held,  and  to  which  I  alone  had  previous  access, 
the  medium  was  completely  undressed  m  my  presence, 
and  dressed  in  a  tight  garment,  sewn  up  the  back  and 
at  the  wrists;  the  hair,  and  the  cavity  of  the  mouth  were 
examined  by  me  and  my  collaborators  before  and  after 
the  stances.  Eva  was  walked  backwards  to  the  wicker 
chair  in  the  dark  cabinet;  her  hands  were  always  held 
in  full  sight  outside  the  curtains;  and  the  room  was 
always  quite  well  lit  during  the  whole  time.  I  do  not 
merely  say,  *  There  was  no  trickery  * ;    I   say  *  There 

60 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

was  no  possibility  of  trickery.'^  Further,  and  I  cannot 
repeat  it  too  often,  nearly  always  the  materialisations 
took  place  under  my  own  eyes,  and  I  have  observed 
their  genesis  and  their  whole  development. 

Well  constituted  organic  forms  having  all  the  appear- 
ance of  life,  are  often  replaced  by  incomplete  formations. 
The  relief  is  often  wanting  and  the  forms  are  flat.  There 
are  some  that  are  partly  flat  and  partly  in  relief,  I  have 
seen  in  certain  cases,  a  hand  or  a  face  appear  flat,  and 
then,  under  my  eyes  assume  the  three  dimensions, 
entirely  or  partially.  The  incomplete  forms  are  some- 
times smaller  than  natural  size,  being  occasionally 
miniatures. 

Instead  of  being  apparent  by  an  alteration  in 
height,  breadth,  or  thickness,  the  incompleteness  of  the 
formations  is  often  manifest  by  deficiencies :  the  materiali- 
sations are  of  natural  size,  but  show  gaps  in  their 
structure. 

Dr  Schrenck-Notzing,  by  taking  simultaneous  stereo- 
scopic photographs  from  the  front,  the  side,  and  the 
back,  has  seen  that  usually  only  the  first  reveal  a  complete 
materialisation;  the  dorsal  region  being  in  the  condition 
of  a  mass  of  amorphous  substance. 

I  have  personally  remarked  the  same  thing. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  loose  veils,  turbans, 
and  similar  drapery  with  which  *  phantoms  '  so  often 
appear,  mask  defects  or  gaps  in  the  newly-formed 
organism. 

There  are  all  possible  gradations  between  the  com- 
plete and  the  incomplete  organic  forms,  and  they 
develop  under  the  eyes  of  the  observers. 

Along  with  these  complete  and  incomplete  forms  it 
is  necessary  to  mention  another  strange  category  which 

1 1  am,  moreover,  glad  to  testify  that  Eva  has  always  shown,  in  my 
presence,  absolute  experimental  honesty.  The  intelligent  and  self- 
sacrificing  resignation  with  which  she  submitted  to  all  control  and  the 
truly  painful  tests  of  her  mediumship,  deserve  the  real  and  sincere  grati- 
tude of  all  men  of  science  worthy  of  the  name. 

6i 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

covers  imitations  of  organs.  They  are  true  simulacra. 
There  are  simulacra  of  fingers,  having  the  general  form 
but  without  warmth,  flexibihty,  or  joints;  simulacra  of 
faces  like  masks,  or  as  if  cut  out  of  paper;  tufts  of  hair 
adhering  to  undefined  formations,  etc. 

These  simulacra^  whose  reality  is  undeniable  (a 
point  which  is  of  great  importance)  have  disconcerted 
and  perplexed  many  observers.  *  One  would  think,* 
said  M.  de  Fontenay,  *  that  some  kind  of  malicious  sprite 
was  mocking  the  observers.' 

But  really  these  simulacra  may  be  easily  explained. 
They  are  the  products  of  a  force  whose  metapsychic 
output  is  weak  and  whose  means  of  execution  are  weaker 
still.  It  does  what  it  can.  It  rarely  succeeds,  precisely 
because  its  activity,  directed  outside  the  normal  lines, 
has  no  longer  the  certainty  which  the  normal  biologic 
impulse  gives  to  physiological  activity. 

The  fact  that  normal  physiology  also  has  its  simulacra 
enables  us  to  understand  this  better.  Besides  well- 
developed  organic  formations  and  complete  foetal  growths 
there  are  miscarriages,  monstrosities,  and  aberrant  forms. 
Nothing  is  more  curious  in  this  respect  than  the  dermoid 
cysts  in  which  are  found  hair,  teeth,  viscera,  and  even 
more  or  less  complete  foetal  forms.  Like  normal 
physiology,  the  so-called  supernormal  has  its  complete 
and  aborted  forms,  its  monstrosities,  and  its  dermoid 
cysts.     The  parallelism  is  complete. 

The  disappearance  of  materialised  forms  is  at  least 
as  curious  as  their  appearance.  This  disappearance  is 
sometimes  instantaneous,  or  nearly  so.  In  less  than  a 
second  the  form  whose  presence  was  evident  to  sight 
and  touch,  has  disappeared.  In  other  cases  the  dis- 
appearance is  gradual;  the  return  to  the  original 
substance  and  its  reabsorption  into  the  body  of  the 
medium  can  be  observed  by  the  same  stages  as  its 
production.  In  other  cases  again  the  disappearance 
takes  place,  not  by  a  return  to  the  original  substance, 

62 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

but  by  progressive  diminution  of  its  perceptible  charac- 
teristics, the  visibility  slowly  lessens,  the  contours  are 
blurred,  effaced,  and  vanish. 

During  the  whole  time  that  the  materialisation  lasts 
it  is  in  obvious  physiological  and  psychological  relation 
with  the  medium.  The  physiological  connection  may 
sometimes  be  perceived  as  a  thin  cord  of  the  substance 
linking  the  form  to  the  medium,  a  link  which  may  be 
compared  to  the  umbilical  cord  that  unites  the  embryo 
to  the  mother.  Even  when  this  cord  is  not  seen  the 
physiological  relation  is  close.  Every  impression  received 
by  the  ectoplasm  ^  reacts  on  the  medium,  and  vice  versa ; 
the  extreme  reflex  sensitiveness  of  the  forms  is  closely 
connected  with  that  of  the  medium.  Everything  goes 
to  prove  that  the  ectoplasm  is,  in  a  word,  the  medium 
herself,  partially  exteriorised.  I  am  speaking,  of  course, 
only  from  the  physiological  point  of  view  and  not  at 
present  of  the  purely  psychological  side  of  the  matter. 

Such  are  the  facts.  It  remains  to  interpret  them,  if 
possible.  Of  course,  no  claim  can  be  advanced  to  define 
in  a  few  words  and  off-hand  what  Life  is !  It  is  sufficient 
at  the  outset  to  state  the  terms  of  the  problem  clearly. 


2. THE    UNITY    OF    ORGANIC    SUBSTANCE 

The  first  term  of  that  problem  relates  to  the  actual 
constitution  of  living  matter.  The  study  of  supernormal 
physiology  from  this  point  of  view  confirms  the  results 
of  profound  research  in  normal  physiology;  both  tend 
to  establish  the  concept  of  the  unity  of  organic  substance. 
In  the  foregoing  experiments  we  have  seen  first  of  all, 
exteriorised  from  the  medium's  body,  a  single  unique 
substance,  from  which  were  derived  different  ideo- 
plastic  «  forms.     This  unique  substance  we  have  seen 

*  Gr.  iicr6ii,  outside;  v\6.ffixa,  a  thing  formed;  the  exteriorised  substance. 

'  Ideoplastic=  moulded  by  an  idea. 

63 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

many  times  organise  and  transform  itself  under  our  eyes. 
We  have  seen  a  hand  emerge  from  a  mass  of  the  sub- 
stance; we  have  seen  a  white  mass  become  a  face;  we 
have  seen  in  a  few  moments  the  representation  of  a 
head  give  place  to  that  of  a  hand;  we  have  been  able, 
by  the  concordant  evidence  of  sight  and  touch,  to 
perceive  the  passage  of  the  inorganic  amorphous  sub- 
stance into  a  formal  organic  representation  having  for 
the  moment  all  the  attributes  of  life — ^in  flesh  and  bone, 
to  use  a  popular  expression.  We  have  seen  these  repre- 
sentations disappear,  melt  into  the  original  substance 
and  be  re-absorbed  into  the  body  of  the  medium. 
Therefore,  in  supernormal  physiology  there  are  not 
diverse  substances,  bony,  muscular,  visceral,  or  nervous, 
as  the  substrata  of  different  organic  formations;  there 
is  simply  one  substance,  unique  and  basic,  as  the  sub- 
stratum of  organic  life. 

It  is  precisely  the  same  in  normal  physiology;  though 
this  is  less  apparent.  It  is  nevertheless  evident  in  certain 
cases.  The  same  phenomenon  takes  place,  as  has  already 
been  said,  in  the  closed  chrysalis  of  the  insect  as  in  the 
dark  cabinet  at  the  s  dance.  Histolysis  reduces  the 
greater  part  of  its  organs  and  its  different  parts  into 
a  single  substance  which  will  materialise  into  the  organs 
and  different  parts  of  the  adult  form.  The  same 
phenomenon  belongs  to  both  physiologies;  the  parallel 
IS  legitimate  and  complete. 

Only  ordinary  semblances  can  be  set  in  opposition  to 
this  concept  of  the  unity  of  organic  matter.  First  the 
commonplace  physiology  of  daily  experience;  this 
superficial  semblance  proves  nothing,  and  observation 
shows  that  it  is  illusory.  Physico-chemical  appearances 
are  just  as  misleading. 

Analyses  of  the  exteriorised  substance  are,  of  course, 
not  to  be  had.  The  moral  impossibility  of  amputating 
from  the  medium's  ectoplasm  a  portion  which  might 
grievously  injure  or  kill  her,  will  always  prevent  this. 

64 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

We  therefore  are  ignorant  of  the  exact  chemical  com- 
position of  this  substance.  Is  it  decomposable  into  the 
various  simple  substances  which  we  find  in  the  living 
body — carbon,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  iron,  nitrogen,  phos- 
phorus ?  Does  it  imply  an  absolute  unitary  atom  ? 
We  do  not  know,  and  it  matters  little.  What  we  do 
know  is  that  it  shows  biologic  unity. 

In  fine:  everything  in  biology  takes  place  as  if  the 
physical  being  were  formed  of  a  single  primordial 
substance;    organic  forms  are  mere  representations. 

Therefore,  the  first  term  of  the  biological  problem 
is  the  essential  unity  of  organic  substance. 


3. ^THE    EVIDENCE    OF    A    SUPERIOR    DYNAMISM 

The  second  term  is  implied  by  the  necessity  of 
admitting  a  superior,  organising,  centralising,  and  direct- 
ing dynamism. 

The  necessity  of  this  notion  follows  from  the  whole 
of  our  physiological  knowledge. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  only  this  notion  explains 
the  mechanism  of  life,  the  specific  form,  the  maintenance 
of  the  personality,  and  its  organic  repair.  This  notion  of 
a  superior  dynamism  is  forced  upon  us  by  a  study  of 
embryonic  and  post-embryonic  development,  and  especi- 
ally by  a  consideration  of  animal  metamorphoses. 
Finally,  it  has  been  definitely  and  absolutely  demon- 
strated by  the  dematerialisations  and  rematerialisations 
of  the  insect  in  its  chrysalis  and  of  the  medium  in  her 
dark  cabinet. 

In  the  two  latter  cases  no  further  doubt  or  discussion 
is  possible :  the  facts  prove  that  the  constituent  molecules 
of  the  organic  complex  have  no  absolute  specificity;  that 
their  relative  specificity  proceeds  entirely  from  the 
dynamic  or  ideal  mould  which  conditions  them,  and 

65 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

makes  from  them  visceral,  muscular,  or  nervous  sub- 
stance, etc.,  and  gives  to  them  definite  form,  position, 
and  functions. 

In  a  word,  everything  takes  place  in  normal  and 
supernormal  physiology  as  if  the  organic  complex  were 
built  up,  organised,  directed,  and  maintained  by  a 
superior  dynamism.  This  is  the  second  term  of  the 
biologic  problem. 


4. ^THE   CONDITIONING   OF   THE    DYNAMISM    BY  THE 

IDEA. 

There  is  a  third  term,  the  most  important  of  any: 
the  directing  dynamism  itself  obeys  a  directing  idea. 
This  directing  idea  is  found  in  all  biological  creations, 
whether  in  the  normal  constitution  of  an  organism  or  in 
the  abnormal,  and  more  or  less  complex,  materialisation. 
It  reveals  a  well-defined  goal.  The  directing  idea  does 
not  always  reach  this  goal;  the  result  of  its  activity  is 
often  imperfect.  As  may  be  seen  both  in  normal  and 
supernormal  physiology,  it  sometimes  produces  fully 
developed  forms,  sometimes  abortions  or  monstrosities, 
sometimes  even  simulacra\  but  whether  it  attains  com- 
pleteness or  not,  the  directing  idea  is  always  manifest. 
This  is  so  evident  that  the  right  word,  applicable  to  the 
phenomena  of  materialisation,  has  been  found  instinc- 
tively. That  word  is  '  idcoplasticity,'  to  which  has  been 
added  *  teleplasticity  *  to  describe  the  same  phenomenon 
when  occurring  at  a  distance  from  the  decentralised  or 
dematerialised  organism. 

What  is  the  full  meaning  of  this  word  ?  It  means 
the  modelling  of  living  matter  by  an  idea.  The  notion 
of  ideoplasticity  forced  upon  us  by  the  facts  is  of  con- 
spicuous importance;  the  idea  is  no  longer  a  product 
of  matter.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  idea  that  moulds 
matter  and  gives  form  and  attributes  to  it. 

66 


From  the  TJnconsctous  to  the  Conscious 

In  other  words,  matter — the  unique  substance — is 
resolved  by  final  analysis  into  a  superior  dynamism 
which  conditions  it,  and  this  dynamism  is  itself  dependent 
on  the  idea. 

This  is  nothing  less  than  the  complete  reversal  of 
materialist  philosophy.  As  Flammarion  says  in  his 
admirable  book,  Les  Forces  Naturelles  Inconnues^  these 
manifestations  *  confirm  what  we  know  from  other 
sources:  that  the  purely  mechanical  concept  of  nature 
is  insufficient;  and  there  is  more  in  the  universe  than 
matter.  It  is  not  matter  that  governs  the  world,  but 
a  dynamic  and  psychic  element.'  This  is  so,  the  ideo- 
plastic  materialisations  demonstrate  that  the  living  being 
can  no  longer  be  considered  as  a  mere  cellular  complex. 
It  appears  primarily  as  a  dynamo-psychism,  and  the 
cellular  complex  which  is  its  body  appears  as  the  ideo- 
plastic  product  of  this  dynamo-psychism.  Thus  the 
formations  materialised  in  mediumistic  stances  arise 
from  the  same  biological  process  as  normal  birth.  They 
are  neither  more  nor  less  miraculous  or  supernormal; 
they  are  equally  so.  The  same  ideoplastic  miracle  makes 
the  hands,  the  face,  the  viscera,  the  tissues,  and  the 
entire  organism  of  the  foetus  at  the  expense  of  the 
maternal  body,  or  the  hands,  the  face,  or  the  entire  organs 
of  a  materialisation. 

This  singular  analogy  between  normal  and  so-called 
supernormal  physiology  extends  even  to  details;  the 
ectoplasm  is  linked  to  the  medium  by  a  channel  of 
nourishment,  a  true  umbilical  cord,  comparable  to  that 
which  joins  the  embryo  to  the  maternal  body.  In 
certain  cases  the  materialised  forms  appear  in  an  ovoid 
of  the  substance.  The  following  instance  taken  from 
my  notebook  is  characteristic.  *  On  the  lap  of  the  medium 
there  appears  a  white  spot  which  very  rapidly  forms  an 
irregular  rounded  mass  like  a  ball  of  snow  or  cotton 
wool.  Under  our  eyes  the  mass  partly  opens,  divides 
into  two  parts,  united  by  a  band  of  substance;   in  one 

67 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  them  appears  the  admirably  modelled  features  of  a 
woman.  The  eyes  especially  have  an  intensely  living 
expression.  At  the  end  of  a  few  moments,  the  phenom- 
enon fades,  diminishes  in  visibility,  and  disappears.*  I 
have  also  seen,  on  several  occasions,  a  hand  presented 
wrapped  in  a  membrane  closely  resembling  the  placental 
membrance.  The  impression  produced,  both  as  to 
sight  and  touch,  was  precisely  that  of  a  hand  presenta- 
tion in  childbirth,  when  the  amnion  is  unbroken. 

Another  analogy  with  childbirth  is  that  of  pain. 
The  moans  and  movements  of  the  entranced  medium 
remind  one  strangely  of  a  woman  in  travail. 

The  proposed  assimilation  of  normal  to  supernormal 
physiology  is  therefore  legitimate,  for  it  results  from 
the  examination  of  facts.  It  raises,  however,  some  serious 
objections,  which  we  shall  briefly  examine. 

In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  objected,  that  if  normal 
and  supernormal  physiology  both  result  from  the  same 
biologic  process,  whence  comes  their  apparent  diversity  } 
Why  is  the  one  regular,  and  the  other  exceptional,  cut 
off  from  the  usual  accessories  of  time,  space,  generative 
conditions,  etc.  ?  We  reply  that  normal  physiology  is 
the  product  of  organic  activity  such  as  evolution  has 
made  it.  The  creative  and  directing  idea  normally 
works  in  a  given  sense,  that  of  the  evolution  of  the 
species,  and  conforms  to  the  manner  of  that  evolution. 
Supernormal  physiology,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the 
product  of  ideoplastic  activity  directed  in  a  divergent 
manner  by  an  abnormal  effort  of  the  directing  idea. 

To  explain  this  activity,  divergent  from  the  usual 
conditions,  there  is  no  need  to  invoke  a  miraculous  or 
supernormal  agency.  Science  and  philosophy  are  logi- 
cally harmonised  by  an  explanation  at  once  more  simple 
and  more  satisfying.  These  abnormal  ideoplastic  possi- 
bilities, these  apparently  mysterious  powers  over  Matter, 
simply  prove  ihat  the  laws  which  preside  over  the 
material   world   have   not   the   absolute   and   inflexible 

68 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

rigour  which  they  were  thought  to  have;  they  are  only 
relative.  Their  action  may  be  temporarily  or  accidentally 
modified  or  suspended. 


5. THE    SECONDARY    MODALITIES    OF    SUPERNORMAL 

PHYSIOLOGY 

These  notions  as  to  the  sequence  and  the  facts  of 
materialisation  being  established,  it  will  be  easy,  con- 
formably with  our  method,  to  understand  the  less  complex 
facts  of  so-called  supernormal  physiology,  which  are  so 
inexplicable  when  considered  apart  from  other  facts. 

The  phenomena  of  telekinesis  (movement  of  objects 
without  contact)  are  explicable  by  the  action  of  the  vital 
dynamism  exteriorised  and  obeying  a  subconscious 
impulse. 

The  experiments  by  Ochorowicz^  have  clearly 
established  the  genesis  of  this  phenomenon.  They  show 
the  meaning,  from  this  point  of  view,  of  the  elementary 
forms  of  materialisation,  the  threads  of  substance  and 
rigid  rods,  sometimes  visible,  sometimes  invisible,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  fingers  of  the  medium  and  serving  as  a 
substratum  to  the  exteriorised  dynamism.  The  facts 
of  telekinesis,  though  less  complex,  are  of  no  less 
importance  than  those  of  materialisation.  I  do  not 
think  it  necessary  to  describe  them,  but  simply  refer 
the  reader  to  special  works  on  the  subject.* 

*  Annales  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 

'  See  especially  the  luminous  report  of  M.  Courtier  on  the  experi- 
ments made  by  the  Psychological  Institute  with  the  medium  Eusapia 
Palladino  in  1905,  1906,  1907,  on  the  premises  of  the  Institute,  by  MM. 
D'Arsonval,  Gilbert  Ballet,  M.  et  Mme  Curie,  Bergson,  Ch.  Richet,  and 
de  Gramont.  Here,  for  instance,  are  the  accounts  given  by  M.  Coiirtier 
of  two  of  these  experiments  : — 

I.  'At  the  fourth  s6ance  of  1905,  a  table  weighing  15  lb.  with  a  weight 
of  22  lb.  placed  on  it,  was  twice  completely  raised  for  several  seconds. 
This  was  also  done  at  the  sixth  seance,  when  the  feet  of  the  table  near 
the  subject  were  encased  in  a  sheath.  .  .  . 

'At  the  moment  of  the  raising  of  the  table,  M.  D'Arsonval  and  M, 
Ballet  were  completely  controlling  the  hands  and  knees  of  Eusapia,  an4 

6^  o 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  phenomena  of  stigmatisation  and  affections  of 
the  skin  effected  by  suggestion  or  auto-suggestion,  are 
but  elementary  ideoplastic  effects  much  more  simple 
than  materialisations,  though  of  the  same  order. 

Miraculous  healing,  so  called,  is  a  result  of  the  same 
ideoplasticity  directed  by  suggestion  or  auto-suggestion 
in  a  sense  favourable  to  organic  repair,  and  concentrating 
for  this  purpose  all  the  energies  of  the  vital  dynamism. 
It  is  to  be  remarked  that  this  subconscious  and  recupera- 
tive ideoplastic  force  is  much  more  active  in  the  lower 
animals  than  in  man;  no  doubt  because  with  him  cerebral 
activity  engrosses  the  greater  part  of  his  vital  activity. 
There  is  no  miracle  in  ascribing  to  the  human  organism 
some  part  of  the  dynamic  and  ideoplastic  action  which 
is  the  rule  in  the  lower  grades  of  the  animal  scale. 

The  phenomena  of  mimetism  so  frequent  in  animal 
form.s  and  so  mysterious  in  their  mechanism,  may  also  be 

no  contact  was  made  with  the  legs  of  the  table.  .  .  .  We  must  also 
remember  the  complete  levitations  of  tables  at  the  end  of  stances  when 
every  one  was  standing  up,  under  conditions  of  control  of  which  precise 
and  circumstantial  stenographic  notes  were  taken. 

'  The  tables  were  then  raised  to  greater  heights  than  during  the  stances, 
as  much  as  80  centimetres  to  a  metre  from  fiie  floor,  the  hands  and  feet 
of  the  subject  being  rigorously  controlled. 

2.  Movements  of  the  small  table  towards  and  away  from  the  medium. 
'This  table  advances  and  retreats  .  .  .  when  it  advances  towards  her 
it  might  be  imagined  that  in  spite  of  stringent  precautions  against  fraud, 
she  uses  a  thread  fine  enough  to  be  invisible  and  draws  the  table  by 
this  means.  .  .  .  But  how  can  its  retreat  be  explained  ?  Let  us  suppose 
that  one  of  those  present  should  take  Eusapia's  place  and  act  by  ordinary 
means.  Only  one  procedure  can  be  imagined — to  hold  a  rigid  rod  and 
push  and  pull  the  table  by  its  means.  But  a  rigid  rod,  however  thin, 
could  not  escape  the  sight  of  closely  attentive  observers.  There 
could  be  no  question  of  retreat  obtained  by  passing  the  thread  over  a 
pulley  or  some  projection  from  the  wall,  which  would  involve  prepara- 
tion. The  recording  apparatus  was,  of  course,  entirely  motionless;  and 
on  the  other  hand  any  supposition  of  collective  hallucination  must  be 
set  aside,  as  the  Marey's  cylinder  recorded  the  displacements  of  the  table. 
Further,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  this  is  no  question  of  attractions  and 
repulsions  like  those  of  a  magnet,  alwaya  quick  and  in  a  fixed  direction. 
The  table  is  moved  relatively  slowly,  and  its  path  is  curved  and  irregular. 
It  avoids  obstacles  to  reach  a  final  position.' 

I  have  cited  these  observations  of  the  skilled  experimenters  of  the 
Psychological  Institute,  not  for  their  special  value,  which  is  inconsiderable 
in  view  of  the  great  variety  and  complexity  of  the  phenomena  of  tele- 
kinesis; but  only  in  order  to  give  one  undeniable  and  irrefutable  instance. 

70 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

explained  by  subconscious  ideoplasticity.  Instinct  would 
direct  the  ideoplasticity  in  a  given  direction  and  the 
effects  would  be  fixed  by  selection  and  adaptation.^ 

The  table  below  shows  in  a  striking  manner  the 
contrast  between  the  new  and  the  classical  concepts. 


6 ^THE    PHYSIOLOGICAL    CONCEPT    OF   THE    INDIVIDUAL 

Summary. 


Classical  Concepts. 
The  organism  is  a  mere 
cellular  complex.  The  vital 
dynamism  is  but  the  result- 
ant synthesis  of  biologic 
sequence  and  physiological 
functions. 

Primordial  vital  fact: 

mysterious. 

Specific   form :   mysterious. 

Formation  of  the  organism : 
mysterious. 

Maintenance  of  the  organ- 
ism: vague  and  insuffi- 
cient hypotheses. 

Repair  of  the  organism: 
vague  and  insufficient 
hypotheses. 

Embryonic  development: 
mysterious. 

Post-embryonic    develop- 
ment :    mysterious. 

Metamorphoses : 

mysterious. 

Histolysis  of  the  Insect: 
mysterious. 

^  See,  in  this  connection,  Les  Miracles  de  la  VolonU,  by  £.  Duchatd 
and  Warcollier. 

71 


New  Concept. 
The  organic  complex,  its 
physiological  functions, 
and  all  the  vital  process, 
are  conditioned  by  a 
superior  dynamism. 

Ail  these  phenomena  are 
easily  explicable  by  the 
action  of  a  superior  dynam- 
ism, generating,  directing, 
centralising,  preserving, 
and  repairing  the  organ- 
ism. The  concrete  notion 
of  this  dynamism  must  be 
substituted  for  the  abstract 
notion  of  a  directive  idea. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Sensorial  manifestations  All  these  phenomena  are 
outside  the  organs  of  explicable  by  the  action 
sense :   mysterious.  of  the  vital  dynamism  act- 

Motor  manifestations  out-  ing  outside  the  organism, 
side  the  muscular  sys-  This  dynamism  conditions 
tem:   mysterious.  the  organism  in  place  of 

Ideoplastic  manifestations:  being  conditioned  by  it. 
mysterious.  It   can   therefore   separate 

Materialisations:  itself  from   it,    and    even 

mysterious.  partially  disorganise  and 
reorganise  it  in  diverse 
forms  and  representations. 

It  is  clear  that  the  mystery  in  which  physiology 
was  enveloped  is  in  some  measure  dispelled;  the  triple 
concept  of  the  unity  of  substance,  the  organising 
dynamism,  and  the  conditioning  of  this  latter  by  the 
Idea,  enables  us  to  make  a  decided  step  towards  truth. 

But  how  much  still  remains  unknown! 

What  are  the  origin,  the  end,  and  the  exact  nature 
of  this  dynamo-psychism  which  organises,  centralises 
and  directs  the  cellular  complex  ?  How  does  this 
mysterious  dynamo-psychism  exist  potentially  in  the 
fertilised  ovum,  in  the  cutting,  or  in  the  bud,  whence  a 
new  creature  will  grow  ?  What,  in  a  word,  is  its  exact 
relation  to  all  vital  process  }  We  have  spoken  of  ideo- 
plastic power.  But  what  exactly  is  this  power  ?  The 
directing  idea,  and  the  ideoplastic  capacities  which 
normal  and  supernormal  physiology  reveal,  do  not 
depend  on  the  consciousness  in  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  sum  up  and  localise  our  *  Self.'  They  arise  from  the 
depths  of  a  mysterious  and  impenetrable  unconscious- 
ness. 

The  conscious  directing  will  of  our  being  has  no 
action  on  the  great  organic  functions,  and  does  not  come 
into  play  for  the  ideoplastic  materialisations.  These, 
produced  at  the  expense  of  the  substance  of  the  organism, 

72 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

seem,  nevertheless,  often  if  not  always,  to  be  directed 
and  formed  outside  that  organism  by  entities  distinct 
from  it. 

Will  it  then  be  said  that  to  speak  of  ideoplasticity, 
the  modelling  of  matter  by  the  Idea,  and  of  an  organising 
dynamo-psychism  is  only  to  push  the  mystery  further 
back,  not  to  solve  it  ?  Will  it  be  said  that  the  enigma 
is  not  less  insoluble  for  being  put  back  one  step  ? 
Insoluble!     By  no  means! 

The  truth  is,  once  more,  that  starting  from  the 
elementary  but  essential  data  which  have  emerged  from 
our  demonstration,  the  biological  problem  becomes 
terribly  complex. 

It  is  not  related  to  physiology  alone,  but  to  psychology, 
to  all  the  natural  sciences,  and  to  philosophy. 

In  a  word,  we  are  dealing  no  longer  with  Life  alone, 
but  with  the  whole  constitution  and  evolution  of  the 
universe  and  the  individual. 

Before  closing  the  reference  to  physiology  we  must 
enter  upon  a  new  and  larger  application  of  the  synthetic 
method.  We  must  interrogate  first  psychology,  and 
then  philosophy;  the  partial  answers  which  we  now 
feel  the  want  of,  will  be  given  by  the  general  answer  to 
the  great  enigma,  which  is  the  aim  of  the  present  work. 


CHAPTER  III 

PSYCHOLOGICAL    INDIVIDUALITY 

The  bankruptcy  of  the  classical  concept  of  physiological 
individuality  has  now  been  demonstrated.  We  shall 
next  show  that  the  classical  psychological  concept  is 
equally  defective. 

It  is  based  on  two  principal  notions: — 

1.  The  notion  of  the  Self  as  a  synthesis  of  states  of 

consciousness. 

2.  The  notion  of  the  close  dependence  of  all  that 

constitutes  a  thinking  being  on  the  functions 
of  the  nervous  centres. 
These    two    essential    propositions    will    now    be 
successively  examined. 


I. — ^THE     SELF     CONSIDERED     AS     A     SYNTHESIS    OF    STATES 
OF    CONSCIOUSNESS 

In  succession  to  the  physiological  concept  quoted 
from  M.  Dastre  (Ch.  I.),  let  us  consider  the  psychological 
concept  which  we  borrow  from  M.  Ribot.^ 

'  The  organism^  and  the  brain  which  is  its  supreme 
representation^  are  the  real  personality^  containing  in 
itself  the  remnants  of  what  we  have  been  and  the 
possibilities  of  what  we  shall  be.  The  individual 
character  in  its  entirety  is  inscribed  there,  its  active 
and  passive  aptitudes,  its  sympathies  and  anti- 
pathies, its  genius,  its  wisdom,  or  its  foolishness,  its 
virtues  and  its  vices,  its  torpor  or  its  activity.    That 

*  Ribot :   L»s  Maladies  de  la  PersonnaliU.    (Italics  are  Dr  Geley's.) 

74 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

part  which  emerges  into  consciousness  is  slight  in 
comparison  with  that  which,  though  always  acting, 
remains  buried.  The  conscious  is  always  but  a  small 
•part  of  the  psychic  personality. 

*  The  unity  of  the  Self  is  not  therefore  that  single 
entity  claimed  by  spiritualists,  manifest  in  many 
phenomena,  but  the  co-ordination  of  a  number  of  states 
perpetually  renewed,  having  as  their  only  link  the 
vague  sensations  of  our  bodies.  This  unity  does 
not  proceed  from  above  downwards,  but  from  below 
upwards ;  it  is  not  an  initial  but  a  terminal  point.  .  .  .* 

*  The  Self  is  a  co-ordination.  It  oscillates  between 
two  extreme  points  at  each  of  which  it  ceases  to 
exist — perfect  unity  or  absolute  lack  of  co-ordination. 

'  The  last  word  in  all  this  is ;  that  the  consensus 
of  consciousness  being  subordinate  to  the  consensus 
of  the  organism,  the  problem  of  the  unity  of  the 
Self  is,  in  its  simplest  form,  a  biological  problem. 
It  is  for  biology  to  explain,  if  it  can,  the  genesis  of 
organisms  and  the  solidarity  of  their  parts.  The 
psychological  interpretation  can  but  follow.* 

Le  Dantec  comes  to  the  same  conclusions.*  Indi- 
vidual consciousness,  according  to  him,  is  but  the  sum 
of  consciousness  of  all  the  neurons,  so  that  *  our  Self 
will  be  determined  by  the  number,  nature,  dispositions, 
and  reciprocal  connections  among  the  elements  of  our 
nervous  system.' 

It  appears  then  that  for  the  contemporaneous  classical 
psycho-physiology  the  conscious  Self  has  no  essential 
unity;  it  is  a  mere  co-ordination  of  states,  just  as  the 
organism  to  which  it  is  linked  is  a  mere  co-ordination  of 
cells. 

The  objections  which  arise  to  this  are  the  same  as 
those  which  hold  with  regard  to  the  physiological  concept 
of  the  individual ;   they  take  no  account  of  the  need  for 

*  Le  Dantec :  Le  Ddierminisme  Biologique  et  la  Personnaliti  Conscient ; 
UlndividualiU ;   TMorie  nouvelle  de  la  Vie. 

75 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

a  directing  and  centralising  principle,  creating  the  Self 
and  maintaining  its  permanence. 

Le  Dantec  thus  explains  the  permanence  of  the 
Self. 

*  Individual  consciousness,*  he  says,  *  is  not 
invariable;  it  is  slowly  and  continuously  modified 
along  with  the  incessant  changes  produced  in  our 
organism  by  the  functional  assimilation  which  accom- 
panies all  our  acts;  it  is  this  which  constitutes  the 
variation  of  our  personality;  but  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  assimilation  and  the  specific  coherence 
of  plastic  substances,  there  will  be  continuity  in 
time  between  these  successive  personalities;  and  it 
is  for  this  reason  that  the  psychological  Self  accom- 
panies the  physiological  individual  through  all  its 
unceasing  modifications  from  birth  to  death.* 

By  a  reaction  against  the  old  vitalist  or  spiritualist 
hypotheses,  this  concept  of  the  Self  as  an  elementary 
synthesis  is  accepted  by  the  vast  majority  of  contem- 
porary psycho-physiologists,  all  their  efforts  being 
directed  to  force  it  into  agreement  with  the  usual  con- 
sciousness of  personal  unity.  Hoeffding,^  Paulhan,* 
Wundt,^  and  many  others  have  rivalled  each  other  in 
this  impossible  task.  To  get  over  the  difficulty  they 
sometimes  have  recourse  to  psycho-metaphysical  entities. 
Claude  Bernard  in  physiology  invoked  the  *  Directing 
Idea.*  Wundt,  in  psychology,  attributes  the  unifying 
function  to  what  he  calls  *  apperception.* 

These  subtleties  have  not  advanced  the  matter  a 
single  step.  *  Whatever  point  of  view  we  take,*  says 
Boutroux,  *  multiplicity  does  not  contain  a  reason  for 
unity.*  * 

*HoefFding:    ^squisse  d'une  Psychologic  Fondie  sur  I'ExpMenes. 

•Paulhan:    L'ActiviU  Mentale. 

"  Wundt :    Physiologische  Psychologic. 

*  Boutroiuc :  De  la  Contingence  des  Lois  de  la  Nature. 

76 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  is  obvious,  and  the  time  has  come  to  draw  the 
logical  inference  from  this  aphorism.  To  do  this  it  is 
necessary  to  get  rid  of  all  abstractions,  preconceived 
ideas,  and  vain  disputes  over  names. 

The  question  is  very  simple  and  admits  of  no 
equivocal  answer:  Is  the  Self  merely  a  synthesis  of 
elements,   or  is  it  not  } 

Is  this  synthesis  the  sum  of  the  consciousness  of 
neurons  closely  and  exclusively  linked  to  the  functioning 
of  the  nervous  centres,  or  is  it  not  }    Yes,  or  No  } 

This  is  what  we  have  to  examine  by  the  light  of  all 
psychological  facts. 


2. ^THE   SELF  AS   A    PRODUCT    OF   THE    FUNCTION    OF  THE 

'  NERVE-CENTRES 

The  classical  concept  is  based  on  the  old  notion  of 
psycho-physiological  parallelism,  in  support  of  which 
the  following  arguments  are  adduced. 

The  development  of  conscious  intelligence  accom- 
panies the  development  of  the  organism,  and  its  later 
progressive  diminution  is  parallel  with  senile  decay. 

Psychological  activity  is  proportional  to  the  activity 
of  the  nervous  centres. 

Psychological  activity  disappears  in  the  repose  ot 
those  centres  in  sleep  or  in  syncope. 

Psychological  activity  implies  the  normal  function 
of  the  nervous  centres;  lesions  of  these  centres,  infection, 
or  serious  intoxication  affecting  the  brain,  disturb, 
restrain,  or  suppress  psychic  action  altogether. 

This  psychic  action  is  closely  conditioned  by  the 
extent  of  the  organic  powers  and  is  inseparable  from 
them.  The  materials  which  the  intellect  uses  come  from 
the  senses :  *  Nihil  est  In  Intellectu  quod  non  prlus  fuerlt 
in  sensu.''  Therefore  the  range  of  the  senses  limits  the 
range  of  conscious  intelligence. 

77 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Finally,  all  psychological  faculties  arise  from  clear 
and  definable  cerebral  localities.  The  destruction  of 
one  of  these  centres  extinguishes  the  corresponding 
faculty. 

Such  is  the  classical  teaching  so  long  considered 
unquestionable,  and  generally  unquestioned.  Neverthe- 
less serious  difficulties  have  recently  arisen  and  forced 
themselves  on  our  attention. 


3. FACTS    OF    NORMAL    PSYCHOLOGY    AT    ISSUE    WITH   THE 

THESIS    OF    PARALLELISM 

In  the  first  place  the  parallelism,  analysed  by  the 
light  of  new  facts  does  not  seem  so  close  as  was  thought; 
the  attempts  at  cerebral  localisation  which  promised 
so  well,  have  been  checked  if  not  ended.  The  work  of 
Pierre  Marie,  and  the  thesis  of  Moutier  have  proved 
that  the  best  established  localisation,  that  of  speech  in 
the  third  frontal  on  the  left  side  is  not  rigidly  correct. 
Speech,  like  all  other  functions,  requires  that  several 
centres  should  work  together. 

Certain  pathological  cases  have  proved  that  the 
excision  of  large  portions  of  the  brain  in  the  very  parts 
which  were  thought  essential,  may  be  followed  by  no 
grave  psychic  disturbance,  and  no  restriction  of  per- 
sonality. 

Here  is  an  abstract  of  the  principal  cases,  quoted 
from  the  Annates  des  Sciences  Psychiques  of  Jan.,  1917.^ 

*  M.  Edmond  Perrier  brought  before  the  French 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  the  session  of  December 
22nd,  191 3,  the  case  observed  by  Dr  R.  Robinson; 
of  a  man  who  lived  a  year,  nearly  without  pain,  and 
without  any  mental  disturbance,  with  a  brain  reduced 
to  pulp  by  a  huge  purulent  abscess.    In  July,  19 14, 

*  Summary  by  M.  de  Vesme. 
78 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Dr  Hallopeau  reported  to  the  Surgical  Society  an 
operation  at  the  Necker  Hospital,  the  patient  being 
a  young  girl  who  had  fallen  out  of  a  carriage  on  the 
Metropolitan  Railway.  After  trephining,  it  was 
observed  that  a  considerable  portion  of  cerebral 
substance  had  been  reduced  literally  to  pulp.  The 
wound  was  cleansed,  drained,  and  closed,  and  the 
patient  completely  recovered.' 

The  following  report  of  the  session  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  at  Paris,  March  24th,  1917,  appeared  in  the 
Paris  newspapers: — 

*  Partial  removal  of  the  brain, — Following  on 
previous  communications  on  this  operation,  which 
runs  counter  to  ideas  generally  received,  Dr  A.  Guepin 
of  Paris  communicates  a  fresh  study  on  this  question. 
He  mentions  that  his  jfirst  patient,  the  soldier  Louis 

R ,  to-day  a  gardener  near  Paris,  in  spite  of 

the  loss  of  a  very  large  part  of  his  left  cerebral  hemi- 
sphere (cortex,  white  substance,  central  nuclei,  etc.), 
continues  to  develop  intellectually  as  a  normal  subject, 
in  despite  of  the  lesions  and  the  removal  of  con- 
volutions considered  as  the  seat  of  essential  functions. 
From  this  typical  case,  and  nine  analogous  cases  by 
the  same  operator,  known  to  the  Academy,  Dr  Guepin 
says  that  it  may  now  safely  be  concluded: — 

(i).  That  the  partial  amputation  of  the  brain 
in  man  is  possible,  relatively  easy,  and  saves  certain 
wounded  men  whom  received  theory  would  regard 
as  condemned  to  certain  death,  or  to  incurable 
infirmities. 

*  (2).  That  these  patients  seem  not  in  any  way 
to  feel  the  loss  of  such  a  cerebral  region. 

*  This  study  is  referred  to  Dr  Laveran  for  a 
separate  report.* 

This  question  is  obviously  of  such  importance  in 

7Q 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  present  connection  and  from  the  general  human 
point  of  view,  that  we  think  it  useful  to  translate  and 
reproduce  here,  part  of  an  address  by  Dr  Augustin 
Iturricha,  President  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of 
Sucre  (Chuquisaca,  Bolivia),  at  a  session  of  that 
society : — 

*  Here,  moreover,  are  facts  still  more  surprising 
from  the  clinic  of  Dr  Nicholas  Ortiz,  which  Dr 
Domingo  Guzman  has  had  the  kindness  to  com- 
municate to  me.  The  authenticity  of  the  observations 
cannot  be  doubted,  they  proceed  from  two  authorities 
of  high  standing  in  our  scientific  world. 

*  The  first  case  refers  to  a  boy  of  12  to  14  years 
of  age,  who  died  in  full  use  of  his  intellectual  faculties 
although  the  encephalic  mass  was  completely  detached 
from  the  bulb,  in  a  condition  which  amounted  to  real 
decapitation.  What  must  have  been  the  stupefaction 
of  the  operators  at  the  autopsy,  when,  on  opening 
the  cranial  cavity,  they  found  the  meninges  heavily 
charged  with  blood,  and  a  large  abscess  involving 
nearly  the  whole  cerebellum,  part  of  the  brain  and 
the  protuberance.  Nevertheless  the  patient,  shortly 
before,  was  known  to  have  been  actively  thinking. 
They  must  necessarily  have  wondered  how  this  could 
possibly  have  come  about.  The  boy  complained  of 
violent  headache,  his  temperature  was  not  below 
39 °C.  (io2.2°F.)  ;  the  only  marked  symptoms 
being  dilatation  of  the  pupils,  intolerance  of  light, 
and  great  cutaneous  hyperesthesia.  Diagnosed  as 
meningo-encephalitis. 

'  The  second  case  is  not  less  unusual.  It  is 
that  of  a  native  aged  45  years,  suffering  from  cerebral 
contusion  at  the  level  of  Broca's  convolution,  with 
fracture  of  the  left  temporal  and  parietal  bones. 
Examination  of  the  patient  revealed  rise  of  tempera- 
ture, aphasia,  and  hemiplegia  of  the  right  side.    The 

80 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

director  and  physicians  of  the  clinic  undertook  an 
interesting  experiment  in  re-education  of  speech; 
they  succeeded  in  getting  him  to  pronounce  con- 
sciously and  intelligibly  eight  to  ten  words.  Unfor- 
tunately the  experiment  could  not  be  continued, 
the  patient  after  twenty  days  showed  a  great  rise 
in  temperature,  acute  cephalalgia,  and  died  thirty 
hours  later.  The  autopsy  revealed  a  large  abscess 
occupying  nearly  the  whole  left  cerebral  hemisphere. 
In  this  case  also  we  must  ask,  How  did  this  man 
manage  to  think  ?  What  organ  was  used  for  thought 
after  the  destruction  of  the  region  which,  according 
to  physiologists,  is  the  seat  of  intelligence  ? 

*  A  third  case,  coming  from  the  same  clinic,  is 
that  of  a  young  agricultural  labourer,  i8  years  of 
age.  The  post  mortem  revealed  three  communicating 
abscesses,  each  as  large  as  a  tangerine  orange, 
occupying  the  posterior  portion  of  both  cerebral 
hemispheres,  and  part  of  the  cerebellum.  In  spite 
of  these  the  patient  thought  as  do  other  men,  so 
much  so  that  one  day  he  asked  for  leave  to  settle 
his  private  affairs.  He  died  on  re-entering  the 
hospital.* 

Psycho-physiological  parallelism  is  therefore  entirely 
relative.  This  is  not  all.  Many  other  objections  arise 
counter  to  the  classical  concept,  without  going  outside 
commonplace  and  ordinary  psychology.  M.  Dwel- 
shauvers  has  summed  up  clearly  the  chief  of  these 
objections  in  his  book,  U Inconscient. 

In  the  first  place  the  localisations  are  simply  and 
solely  anatomical. 

*  To  start  the  cerebral  cells  of  the  localised  centres 
into  action,  presupposes  a  preliminary  excitation,  and 
this  excitation  arises  from  a  psycho-physiological  act 
which  cannot  be  localised. 

8i 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

*  There  are  no  psycho-physiological  localisations ; 
localisation  is  purely  fantastic. 

*  And  if  it  is  impossible  to  localise  the  least 
sensation,  it  is  much  more  so  to  assign  determinate 
areas  in  the  cerebral  cortex  to  what  used  to  be  termed 
"faculties";  abstraction,  will,  sensation,  imagina- 
tion, and  memory.* 

Therefore  the  materialist  hypotheses  which  made 
thought  a  secretion  of  the  brain,  and  would  assign 
centres  to  mental  faculties,  are  erroneous. 

*  There  are  no  special  nervous  centres,  one 
presiding  over  abstraction,  another  over  the  emotions, 
another  over  memory,  another  over  imagination. 
This  cerebral  mythology  is  given  up;  our  spiritual 
activity  does  not  obey  local  divinities  erected  by 
credulous  scientists  in  the  different  corners  of  their 
cerebral  schemes.* 

Further,  it  seems  really  impossible  *  to  explain 
mental  by  cerebral  activity,  and  to  reduce  the  former 
to  the  latter.*  In  fact,  *  each  time  that  the  thinking 
being  is  not  limited  to  repetition,  but  acquires  some 
new  thing,  he  transcends  the  mechanism  resident  in 
him  .  .  .  the  effort  goes  beyond  the  acquirement; 
he  combines  what  has  already  been  acquired  with 
the  new  impressions;  and  this  implies  an  increase 
of  activity  on  his  part.  The  cerebral  mechanism  lags 
behind  the  intelligence.  ...  In  this  activity,  which 
is  really  progressive  and  characteristic  of  human 
effort,  there  is  a  synthesis  perpetually  renewed  which 
is  not  a  repetition  of  what  has  already  been  acquired. 
This  effort,  which  is  proper  to  mental  life,  is  to  be 
observed  among  animals  also,  when,  being  placed 
in  unusual  conditions,  they  modify  their  habits  and 
adapt  themselves  to  the  altered  circumstances.  ,  ,  ,* 

82 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

^Therefore J  there  is  no  strict  parallelism   between   the 
biological  and  the  -psychological  sequence  ;  the  latter  transcends 
the  former  J' "^ 
There  is  a  final  and  important  argument. 

*  Education,  from  first  sensations  up  to  the 
grouping  of  ideas,  consists  (as  to  its  anatomical  and 
physiological  conditions)  in  the  association  of  numer- 
ous elements,  none  of  which  is  in  itself,  properly 
speaking,  psychological,  but  which  are,  in  fact, 
exceedingly  complex  movements.  In  reference  to 
them  psychological  activity  appears  indeed  as  a 
synthesis,  but  this  synthesis  is  different  from  the  elements 
of  which  it  is  composed^  it  is  other  than  those  elements  J'  ^ 

The  arguments  we  have  now  reviewed  displace  the 
old  absolute  psycho-physiological  parallelism.  They 
displace  it  even  without  going  outside  current  common- 
place psychology,  which  is  to-day  known  to  be  only  a 
part,  and  the  less  important  part,  of  individual  psychism. 
We  have  kept  our  summary  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
classical  theory  within  the  limits  of  its  own  method, 
by  keeping  to  the  analysis  of  elementary  facts.  We  shall 
now  see  what  results  are  "given  by  the  opposite  method 
adopted  in  this  work;  we  shall  consider  first  the  highest 
and  most  complex  qualities  of  the  psychological  being, 
namely,  its  subconscious  psychism. 
iMy  italics,  G.  G. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SUBCONSCIOUS    PSYCHOLOGY 
I . C  RYPTO  PSYC  H  ISM 

It  has  been  said  that  *  the  subconscious  is  the  problem 
of  psychology,  rather  than  a  psychological  problem.* 

This  is  profoundly  true;  every  investigation,  every 
theory,  every  philosophical  concept  w^hich  does  not 
allow  to  the  Unconscious  its  legitimate  part  (which  is 
the  weightier  part),  is  at  onc^  falsified  in  its  essence 
and  in  its  teaching.  Facts  immediately  rise  up  against 
it  and  nullify  it. 

It  is  only  in  our  own  day  that  subconscious  psychology 
has  forced  itself  on  scientific  criticism.  Entirely  dis- 
regarded till  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  then  con- 
sidered only  as  the  anomalous  outcome  of  disease  or 
accident;  it  now  asserts  its  increasing  importance,  and 
henceforward  all  researches  and  all  new  discoveries  form 
parts  of  its  domain  and  extend  its  reach. 

We  are  compelled  to  allow  to  the  Unconscious  a 
primary  function  in  instinct,  in  inborn  character,  in 
latent  psychism,  and  in  genius.  In  every  modern  work 
that  appears,  subconscious  psychism  takes  a  larger  and 
larger  place  and  is  seen  to  be  infinitely  complex  and 
varied.  Its  functions  are  shown  to  be  clearly  prepon- 
derant in  all  the  departments  of  intellectual  and  affectional 
life. 

The  well-known  work  of  Dr  Chabaneix,  Le  Suh- 
conscient  chez  les  Artistes^  les  Savants^  et  les  EcrivainSy 
gives  a  certain  number  of  striking  examples.  Indeed 
examples  are  innumerable;  it  may  be  said  that  there  is 

A4 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

no  artist,  man  of  science,  or  writer  of  any  distinction, 
however  little  disposed  to  self-analysis,  who  is  not  aware 
by  personal  experience  of  the  unequalled  importance  of 
the  subconscious.* 

This  subconscious  influence  is  sometimes  imperative 
and  supreme;  it  is  then  called  *  inspiration.* 

Under  its  influence  the  artist  or  the  inventor  pro- 
duces his  work  (sometimes  a  masterpiece)  at  one  stroke, 
without  pondering  over  it  or  reasoning  about  it;  it 
often  transcends  his  design  without  efibrt  on  his  part. 
The  subconscious  inspiration  is  sometimes  experienced 
in  sleep  in  the  form  of  lucid  and  connected  dreams. 

More  frequently  the  Conscious  and  the  Unconscious 
would  seem  to  collaborate.  The  work  is  initiated  by 
an  act  of  the  will,  and  completed  partly  by  considered 
effort  and  partly  by  spontaneous  and  involuntary  inspira- 
tion. This  collaboration  sometimes  ends  in  results  quite 
different  from  those  at  first  intended.  It  is  very  rare 
that  any  great  artist  or  writer  draws  up  the  plan  of  his 
work  and  follows  it  faithfully,  from  beginning  to  end, 
composing  regularly  and  without  interruption,  as  a 
mason  builds  a  house. 

A  great  artist  works  irregularly;  the  plan  as  first 
conceived  undergoes  great  and  sometimes  complete 
alteration.  The  outlines  do  not  follow  one  from  another 
regularly  from  the  beginning  to  completion;  they  vary 
according  to  the  inspiration '  of  the  moment.  In  fact 
the  artist  is  not  master  of  his  inspiration;  it  is  sometimes 
absent;  and  if  he  persists,  he  will  on  that  day  produce 
only  moderate  work  which  he  will  afterwards  reject. 

If  he  is  wise  enough  not  to  persist,  he  will  find 
himself  able  on  some  other  day  to  complete  the  work 
as  if  by  enchantment,  for  the  subconscious  activity  has 
proceeded  during  repose;    especially  during  sleep. 

*  I  think  it  needless  to  cite  well-known  examples.  Besides  the  work 
of  Dr  Chabaneix,  M.  Dwelshauvers'  L' Inconscient  may  be  referred  to; 
and  generally,  other  works  on  the  same  subject. 

85  H 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

An  artist  is  quite  aware  whether  he  is  inspired  or  not. 
If  he  is,  the  work  proceeds  easily,  almost  without  check, 
to  his  complete  satisfaction  or  even  exultation.  If  he 
is  not,  he  experiences  fatigue  not  only  of  mind,  but  of 
body  also;  he  makes  constant  false  starts,  and  his 
wearisome  and  painful  efforts  are  accompanied  with  a 
sense  of  powerlessness  and  discouragement.  Inspiration 
does  not  come  from  effort;  on  the  contrary,  it  comes 
often  when  least  expected,  and  especially  when  the  mind 
is  at  ease;  not  during  the  times  of  connected  work. 

There  are  writers  and  artists  who  always  keep  a 
notebook  handy  in  order  to  note  down  whatever  the 
caprice  of  inspiration  may  whisper,  some  verses  to  a 
poet;  a  philosophic  point  to  a  thinker;  the  solution  of 
some  problem  vainly  attempted,  to  a  man  of  science; 
a  happy  phrase  to  a  literary  man,  etc.,  etc.  Thus  they 
keep  on  the  watch  for  the  beneficent  action  of  inspiration ; 
in  the  study,  or  during  a  walk;  alone  or  in  a  crowd;  in 
bed,  or  in  the  train  which  takes  them  on  a  journey;  in 
the  carriage  on  the  way  to  business;  in  the  midst  of 
some  social  reunion;  in  the  course  of  some  common- 
place conversation  to  which  they  are  barely  listening 
and  answering  by  monosyllables ;  sometimes  in  conscious 
dreams. 

In  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  subconscious 
collaboration,  it  seems  that  the  work  consciously  begun 
is  elaborated  little  by  little  in  the  subconsciousness,  with 
a  definite  plan,  with  all  its  divisions  and  details,  till  it 
reaches  completion.  But  these  divisions  and  details 
come  only  by  degrees  and  not  in  a  regular  order  and 
sequence.  It  is  only  when  the  work  is  far  advanced 
that  the  plan  and  the  arrangement  of  its  parts  appear. 
The  action  resembles  putting  together  a  kind  of  sub- 
conscious puzzle,  and  the  artist  or  the  writer  (and  it  is 
more  especially  to  writers  that  we  refer)  has  to  make  an 
effort  to  allocate  correctly  the  pages  or  the  phrases 
which  have  been  subconsciously  inspired. 

86 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

When  the  work  is  finished  it  is  found  to  be  quite 
different  from  the  plan  sketched  out;  but  it  may  give 
an  impression  of  beauty  and  order  above  the  writer's 
own  powers;  it  seems  to  be  partly  strange  to  him  and 
he  may  even  admire  it  as  if  it  were  not  his  own. 

There  are  all  possible  degrees  and  modes  in  this 
collaboration  of  the  conscious  and  the  unconscious. 
Certain  artists  and  writers,  usually  (but  not  always)  of 
moderate  ability,  do  not  perceive  this.  They  quite 
sincerely  think  that  all  they  produce  is  the  result  of 
their  own  endeavours.  Others  perceive  it  more  or  less 
and  use  it  without  questioning  its  origin.  Others  again, 
understand  it  so  well  that  they  restrain  effort,  and  are 
quite  aware  whether  or  not  they  are  making  progress 
or  are  straying  into  byways. 

Inspiration,  however,  except  in  very  rare  cases,  does 
not  dispense  from  effort.  It  simply  fertilises  effort  and 
reduces  it  to  a  minimum.  Effort,  however,  cannot  dis- 
pense with  inspiration,  and  it  is  in  the  collaboration  of 
both  that  the  highest  and  best  work  is  produced. 
Without  rationalised  effort  and  conscious  control,  even 
the  inspiration  of  genius  is  liable  to  stray.  Disordered 
and  uncontrolled  inspiration  may  result  in  fine  work 
disfigured  by  want  of  proportion,  by  want  of  order,  by 
redundance,  errors,  and  mistakes. 

Just  as  a  virgin  forest  presents  magnificent  foliage 
against  the  sky,  and  dark  impenetrable  thickets  stifled  by 
parasitic  vegetation,  so  in  a  powerful  work  the  beauty 
of  genius  may  disappear  under  clumsy  errors  and  aberra- 
tions resulting  from  creative  inspiration  unrestrained  by 
sane  and  healthy  consciousness. 

Side  by  side  with  inspiration  must  be  placed  Intuition, 
also  subconscious  and  all-powerful,  on  the  one  condition 
that  it  is  under  due  control  by  reasoned  judgment. 

The  data  of  intuition  lie  beyond  facts,  experiences, 
and  reflection,  and  surpass  them  all.  Intuition  is  the 
very  essence  of  subconsciousness.      Outlined  only  in 

87 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  animal,  where  it  appears  as  instinct,  it  acquires  in 
man  the  higher  aspect  of  genius. 

The  subconscious  reveals  itself  not  by  inspiration 
and  intuition  alone,  but  also  by  frequent  intrusions  of 
emotional,  aesthetic,  or  religious  thought.  Unexpected 
decisions,  abrupt  changes  of  opinion,  many  unreasoned 
feelings,  originate  largely  in  subconsciousness  or  from 
subconscious  collaboration. 

Who  can  say  if  even  some  ideas  which  seem  to  us 
the  result  of  reason,  may  not  be  the  flowering  of  an 
invisible  and  subconscious  growth  ? 

Finally,  all  the  foundations  of  our  being,  that  which 
is  the  principal  part  of  the  Self,  innate  capacities,  good 
or  bad  dispositions,  character — ^all  that  makes  the 
essential  difference  between  one  mind  and  another — all 
that  is  not  the  results  of  personal  effort,  of  education, 
or  of  surrounding  examples,  are  modes  of  subconscious- 
ness. 

Effort,  education,  and  surrounding  examples  may 
develop  that  which  is  inborn  and  essential,  they  cannot 
create  it.  The  subconsciousness  whose  activity  con- 
stitutes that  cryptopsychism  whose  far-reaching  effects 
we  have  reviewed,  is  the  innate  and  essential  groundwork 
of  our  being. 


2. CRYPTOMNESIA 

Cryptomnesia — the  subconscious  memory — follows 
naturally  on  cryptopsychism. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  subconscious  not  only  contains 
that  which  is  psychically  essential  in  the  Self;  it  also 
preserves  and  conceals  all  that  the  Self  seems  to  have 
acquired  by  conscious  psychic  action  in  the  course  of 
existence. 

It  does  not  forget;    it  keeps  all,  integrally. 

Cryptomnesia  may  be  observed  both  in  normal  and 

88 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

in    abnormal    psychology;     but    it    is    naturally    more 
prominent  in  the  latter. 

Flournoyi  is  perhaps  the  psychologist  who  of  all 
others  has  studied  cryptomnesia  most  thoroughly. 
The  fact  of  the  re-emergence  of  forgotten  memories 
which  the  mind  wrongly  takes  to  be  new  and  unpub- 
lished matter,  is,  he  says,  much  more  frequent  than  is 
supposed. 

*  Plain  men,  as  well  as  great  geniuses,  are  subject 
to  these  lapses  of  memory,  bearing  not  on  its  actual 
content,  since  that  very  content  reappears  with 
distressing  and  treacherous  accuracy,  but  on  the 
local  and  temporary  associations  which  would,  if 
remembered,  have  caused  its  recognition  as  matter 
already  seen,  and  would  have  prevented  the  user 
from  decking  himself  in  borrowed  plumes.  Helen 
Keller — the  famous  blind  deaf-mute — who,  at  eleven 
years  old,  composed  her  story  of  the  Frost-king, 
found  herself  most  unjustly  and  cruelly  accused  of 
plagiarism  because  this  story  presented  a  marked 
likeness  to  a  story  which  had  been  read  to  her  three 
years  before.  Nietzsche's  Zarathustra  has  been 
discovered  to  contain  little  details  coming,  unknown 
to  him,  from  a  work  of  Kerner's  which  he  had  studied 
when  12  to  15  years  old.  But  it  is  among  persons 
most  disposed  to  mental  dissociation  and  duplicate 
personality  that  cryptomnesia  reaches  a  climax.* 

A  classical  example  of  cryptomnesia  in  normal 
psychology  is  the  instantaneous  recollection  of  latent 
impressions  at  a  time  of  violent  psychological  disturbance, 
such  as  may  be  produced  by  the  sudden  danger  of 
accidental  death.  Cases  have  been  cited  in  which  all  the 
events  of  a  lifetime,  all  its  acts  and  thoughts,  even  those 
which  were  insignificant  and  quite  forgotten,  are  said 
to  have  passed  through  the  mind. 

*  Floumoy  :   Esprits  et  Mediums. 
89 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Cryptomnesia  may  also  appear  in  dreams. 

The  classical  case  of  Delboeuf^  is  quite  characteristic 
in  this  respect:  in  a  complicated  dream  he  saw,  among 
other  things,  a  plant  with  its  botanical  name,  Asplenium 
ruta  muraria.  Now  Delboeuf  was  totally  ignorant  of 
this  name,  or  thought  he  was.  After  long  search  he 
found  that  two  years  before  he  had  turned  over  the 
leaves  of  a  botanical  album  and  there  had  seen  both  the 
plant  and  the  name,  of  which  he  had  not  thought  again. 

In  hypnosis  and  connected  states  cryptomnesia  some- 
times is  strikingly  manifested.  If  the  subject  is  carried 
back,  spontaneously  or  by  suggestion  to  a  remote  period 
of  his  life,  all  the  forgotten  impressions  reappear  and 
the  psychism  manifested  is  precisely  that  which  he  had 
at  that  age.  The  experiments  of  Janet,  and,  subsequently, 
those  of  de  Rochas,  on  the  regression  of  memory  have 
brought  this  out  clearly. 

Sometimes  the  subject,  in  this  state  of  regression  to 
a  former  age,  shows  knowledge  totally  forgotten,  such  as 
a  language  learned  in  childhood.  Pitres  ^  cites  the  case 
of  a  patient,  Albertine  M.,  who  thus  used  the  -patois 
of  Saintonge,  which  she  had  only  spoken  in  childhood. 
During  this  regressional  delirium,  says  Pitres,  *  she 
expressed  herself  in  -patois^  and  if  we  begged  her  to  speak 
in  French  she  invariably  answered,  always  in  -patois^ 
that  she  did  not  know  the  talk  of  the  townspeople.* 

Take,  also,  the  famous  case  of  one  of  Flournoy's 
subjects,  who,  in  a  state  of  mediumistic  somnambulism, 
spoke  in  Sanskrit,  a  tongue  of  which  he  was  completely 
ignorant,  and  had  never  learned.  Flournoy,  in  spite  of 
all  his  investigations,  could  never  discover  the  origin  of 
this  phenomenon. • 

It  is  in  mediumship  that  cryptomnesia  shows  a  climax. 
It  may  be  the  unsuspected  source  of  quite  stupefying 
messages. 

*  Quoted  by  M.  Dwelshauvers. 

»  Pitres  :   L'Hysterie  et  I  Hypnotisme. 

*  Flournoy  :   Des  Indes  d  la  Planite  Mars. 

90 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

M.  Flournoy  cites  a  number  of  facts  which  he 
attributes  entirely  to  cryptomnesia, — mediums  giving 
biographical  details  of  persons  unknown  to  them  but 
which  they  may  have  unconsciously  known  from  a 
forgotten  glance  at  a  newspaper  which  contained  those 
details;  mediums  speaking  fragments  of  a  language 
of  which  they  are  ignorant  simply  because  these  phrases 
have  fallen  under  their  eyes  on  some  forgotten  occasion, 
etc.,  etc. 

*  In  fine,'  Flournoy  concludes, '  by  whatever  mode  the 
mnemonic  content  has  been  received,  whether  by 
reading,  conversation,  etc.,  it  emerges  in  sensorial 
automatisms  (visions,  voices,  etc.),  in  motor  automatisms 
(raps  or  automatic  writing),  or  in  total  automatisms 
(trances,  controls,  or  somnambulistic  personifications). 
This  diversity,  of  course,  is  further  complicated  by  the 
embroidery  which  the  fancy  of  the  medium  adds  to 
fragments  properly  referred  to  cryptomnesia.' 

Among  the  examples  given  by  Flournoy  there  are 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  kind.  Some  are  here 
quoted. 

Case  of  Eliza  Wood. — Mrs  Wood,  widowed  in  the 
previous  week,  received  a  visit  from  a  friend,  Mme 
Darel  (the  well-known  authoress  of  Geneva),  who 
possessed  remarkable  mediumistic  faculties.  Mme  Darel 
brought  to  her,  on  behalf  of  the  defunct,  the  following 
message,  obtained  at  her  table:  '  Tell  her  to  remember 
Easter  Monday.*  It  was  a  striking  allusion  to  an  event 
known  only  to  Mr  and  Mrs  Wood,  referring  to  a  walk 
kept  secret  from  their  families,  prior  to  their  engagement, 
which  had  left  an  ineffaceable  memory.  This  striking 
proof  of  identity  convinced  Mrs  Wood,  who  soon  had 
a  second,  still  more  valid,  at  the  seances  which  she 
attended  at  Mme  Darel's  house.  Mr  Wood  had  died 
not  long  after  their  wedding  trip,  his  widow  thought 
he  had  left  no  will,  and  the  search  which  she  made  was 
fruitless,  till  the  day  when  she  and  Mme  Darel  were 

91 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

at  the  table,  which,  on  the  part  of  the  defunct,  rapped 
out:  *  You  will  find  something  from  me  under  a  saucer 
in  the  drawer  of  the  washstand.*  She  found  there  a 
sheet  of  paper  constituting  the  document  in  question. 
She  then  remembered  that  when  they  were  just  starting 
on  their  journey,  her  husband  had  made  her  wait  a 
moment  while  he  returned  on  some  pretext  to  their 
bedroom,  evidently  to  write  and  hide  his  will  there.' 

*  Now,*  says  M.  Flournoy,  *  there  is  nothing  to  prove 
that  Mme  Darel  or  one  of  her  people,  out  for  a  walk 
on  Easter  Monday  (which  is  a  holiday)  in  the  environs 
of  Geneva,  had  not  met  the  pair,  or  seen  them  from  a 
distance,  and  this  forgotten  impression  may  have  been 
the  source  of  the  message  which  so  impressed  the  young 
widow;  similarly  the  second  message  regarding  the 
hidden  will  may  well  have  been  due  to  reminiscences 
and  subconscious  inferences  of  Mrs  Wood's.* 

Case  of  the  Cur^  Burnet. — Flournoy 's  subject  pro- 
duced one  day  a  message  claiming  to  be  from  one  Burnet, 
who  had  died  a  century  previously,  the  cur  6  of  a  commune 
in  the  department  Haute  Savoie.  The  researches  of  the 
professor  showed  the  absolute  identity  of  the  writing 
and  the  signature  to  the  message  with  that  of  the  deceased 
clergyman. 

How  can  this  be  explained  }  The  medium,  M. 
Flournoy  supposes,  had  once,  in  childhood,  passed 
through  the  commune  where  the  cure  had  lived.  He 
had  (on  Flournoy's  hypothesis)  seen  on  some  document, 
such,  for  example,  as  an  old  marriage  contract,  the 
writing  and  the  signature  of  the  curd.  He  had  not, 
however,  the  slightest  recollection  of  this  journey.  It 
was  therefore  a  question  of  some  impression  received 
without  conscious  knowledge  forgotten,  but  yet  intact, 
which,  in  the  hypnotic  state,  had  awaked  this  strange  and 
perfect  reminiscence. 

Along  with  these  remarkable  examples  which  spiritu- 
alists attribute,  not  to  cryptomnesia  but  to  post-mortem 

92 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

manifestations,  Flournoy  gives  many  others,  which, 
equally  mysterious  in  appearance,  certainly  proceed 
from  pure  cryptomnesia ;  mediums  giving  from  supposed 
defunct  persons  proofs  of  identity  found  on  inquiry  to 
be  erroneous,  but  conformable  to  records  which  had 
appeared  in  such  and  such  a  newspaper  which  had 
evidently  fallen  under  the  eyes  of  the  medium  at  some 
moment  or  other  without  arousing  conscious  attention. 

However  little  philosophical  thought  one  may  bring 
to  the  study  of  subconscious  psychology,  what  strikes 
one  most  forcibly  is  that  it  does  not  fall  under  any  known 
physiological  law.  The  same  question  inevitably  recurs 
to  the  mind  of  the  inquirer — why,  and  how,  is  it  that 
the  portion  of  the  psychism  which  constitutes  the  more 
important  part  of  the  Self,  remains  cryptoid  ?  Why,  and 
how,  does  it  come  to  pass  that  the  consciousness  and 
the  will  of  the  living  being,  without  which  there  would 
be  no  Self,  let  go  the  major  part  of  that  Self  ?  Whether 
the  matter  is  cryptopsychic  or  cryptomnesic,  the  mystery 
is  equally  profound.  It  is  physiologically  impossible  to 
understand  how  the  conscious  memory,  under  the  control 
and  the  direction  of  the  person,  should  be  weak,  untrust- 
worthy, and  decrepit,  while  the  subconscious  memory, 
only  accessible  incidentally  or  in  abnormal  or  super- 
normal states,  should  seem  both  extensive  and  un- 
failing. 

Nevertheless  this  is  what  everything  tends  to 
prove. 

Yet  more,  the  weakness  and  impotence  of  the  normal 
memory  is  sometimes  such  that  the  subconscious  know- 
ledge or  powers  which  escape  from  the  direction  of  the 
Self  appear  totally  strange  to  the  individual  and  constitute 
a  secondary  consciousness. 

In  the  bewildering  complexity  of  the  subconscious, 
there  arise  not  only  duplicate,  but  even  multiple, 
personalities. 

93 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


3. ALTERATIONS    OF    PERSONALITY 

The  chief  problems  which  are  presented  by  the 
appearance  of  secondary  personalities,  are  two,  both 
equally  difficult. 

1.  The    problem    of  the    psychological    differences 

from  the  normal  personality,  differences  not 
only  of  manner  and  will,  but  of  general 
character,  inclinations,  faculties,  and  knowledge; 
differences  occasionally  so  radical  that  they 
imply  complete  opposition  and  even  hostility 
between  the  normal  and  the  secondary  per- 
sonality. 

2.  The  problem  of  the  supernormal  powers  which 

are  frequently  linked  with  the  manifestation  of 
secondary  personalities. 

Now  although  there  are  numerous  works  on  multiple 
personality,  which  have  brought  to  light  the  frequency, 
the  importance,  and  the  many  forms  of  these  manifesta- 
tions, they  have  done  nothing  towards  the  elucidation  of 
these  two  problems. 

They  have  only  succeeded  in  showing  the  abyss  that 
exists  between  the  commonplace  personalities  of  hypnotic 
suggestion,  devoid  of  originality  of  any  kind,  and  the 
psychic  changes  arising  from  pathological  or  traumatic 
causes  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  autonomous  and  complete 
personalities  which  sometimes  seem  to  occupy  the  whole 
psychic  field  of  the  subject,  on  the  other. 

They  have,  above  all,  shown  the  complete  inability 
of  the  classical  psycho-physiology  to  explain  the  super- 
normal faculties  at  all. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    SO-CALLED    SUPERNORMAL    SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 

Supernormal  psychology  is  a  world  whose  exploration 
is  hardly  begun.  Without  entering  here  on  an  analytical 
description  which  the  reader  will  find  in  special  works, 
it  is  expedient  to  examine  its  principal  aspects  as  a  whole. 


I. — supernormal   physiology   is   conditioned   by 

SUPERNORMAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Imprimis^  supernormal  physiology  is  conditioned  by 
the  supernormal  psychology  which  has  already  been 
described. 

All  the  phenomena  of  exteriorisation,  telekinesis, 
mysterious  action  on  matter,  materialisation  and  ideo- 
plasticity,  in  no  way  depend  on  the  conscious  will  of  the 
subject.  They  are  always  produced  subconsciously; 
either,  as  it  would  seem,  by  the  external  will  of  an  entity, 
or  by  a  subconscious  idea,  or  by  a  subconscious  per- 
sonality. 

I  do  not,  for  the  moment,  insist  further  on  this  truth 
which  is  obvious  to  all  observers  in  the  supernormal 
domain.  As  I  have  shown  in  my  book,  UEtre  Suh- 
conscient,  supernormal  physiology  is  merely  an  aspect 
and  a  province  of  supernormal  psychology.  It  is 
inseparable  from  it,  and  cannot  be  observed  or  understood 
apart  from  it. 

2. MENTO-MENTAL    ACTION 

In  the  second  place,  supernormal  psychology  includes 
mento-mental  action,  by  which  is  to  be  understood  those 

95 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

efFects  which  are  produced  from  mind  to  mind  without 
any  appreciable  physical  intermediary,  such  as  thought- 
reading,  mental  suggestion,  or  telepathy.  I  see  nothing 
to  add  to  the  summary  of  these  reactions  given  in  UEtre 
Subconscient^  here  reproduced.  Thought-reading  seems 
well  established  in  hypnotic  and  mediumistic  states.  It 
is  the  convenient,  (much  too  convenient  since  much- 
abused),  explanation  of  many  facts.  It  seems,  up  to  a 
certain  point,  to  be  possible  in  the  waking  state,  or  at 
least  in  a  state  of  hypnosis  or  auto-hypnosis  so  slight  as 
to  pass  unperceived. 

Outside  hypnosis  and  mediumship,  thought-reading 
is  rarely  observable  in  any  satisfactory  manner.  Cases 
of  alleged  thought-reading  obtained  by  contact  between 
the  agent  and  the  subject,  must  be  excluded,  for  these 
are  often  the  results  of  divination  by  unconscious  muscular 
movements. 

Mental  suggestion. — The  possibility  and  reality  of 
mental  suggestion  have  been  proved  in  the  most  rigorous 
manner.^ 

An  order  suggested  by  the  magnetiser  can  be  trans- 
mitted by  a  mere  effort  of  the  will,  without  any  external 
manifestation,  when  the  patient  is  in  the  hypnotic  state. 

Mental  suggestion  may  be  effected  at  a  distance, 
sometimes  at  very  considerable  distances,  and  across 
material  obstacles. 

Telepathy? — Telepathy  consists  essentially  in  the 
fact  of  a  strong  psychic  impression  generally  unlooked 
for,  produced  in  a  normal  person  (either  asleep  or  awake), 
which  is  found  to  coincide  with  a  real  distant  event. 

Sometimes  the  psychic  impression   constitutes  the 

*  Vide  the  standard  work  of  Dr  Ochorowics :  La  Suggestion  Mentale; 
aU  required  proofs  will  be  found  therein. 

•  Phantasms  of  the  Living,  by  Messrs  Gumey,  Myers,  and  Podmore, 
which  contains  700  cases  all  well  described  and  authenticated.  See  also 
Flammarion's  book :  L'Inconnu  et  les  ProbUmes  Psyckiques;  also  the 
file  of  Revues  Psychiques,  and  more  especially  the  Annates  des  Sciences 
Psychiques,  which  contains  numerous  very  remarkable  cases  of  telepathy, 

96 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

whole  fact.     Sometimes  it  is  accompanied  by  a  vision 
which  appears  objective  and  external  to  the  percipient. 
Telepathy  may  be  spontaneous  or  experimental.^ 
Spontaneous  telepathy  may  be: — 
{a)  Relative  to  some  event  in  the  immediate  future, 
e.g.  presentiments,   premonitions,   premonitory 
visions,  apparitions  of  the  dying. 
{F)  Relating    to    the    present    or    the    recent    past. 
Cases  of  second  sight '  or  intimations  of  distant 
events  to  persons  in  the  normal  state;    appari- 
tions of  the  dead  a  few  moments,   hours,  or 
days  after  decease;    cases  of  apparitions  of  a 
living    person    usually    then    in    abnormal    or 
pathologic  sleep  (lethargy,  febrile  delirium,  or 
nervous  disturbance,  etc). 
Most  frequently  the   phenomenon    refers    to  some 
person  united  to  the  percipient  in  more  or  less  close  bonds 
of  affection.     The  cases  usually  relate  to  misfortunes; 
rarely  to  happy  events;  very  rarely  to  indifferent  ones. 

The  telepathic  manifestation  is  usually  unexpected. 
It  often  occurs  to  persons  alien  to  the  marvellous  both 
by  tastes  and  occupations,  and  who  are  seldom  so 
influenced  more  than  once  in  their  lives. 

It  occurs  either  in  waking  life,  or  in  sleep,  which 
it  interrupts. 

As  to  the  phenomenon  itself,  two  important  charac- 
teristics should  be  noted: — 

{a)  The  telepathic  vision  is  generally  very  precise; 
the  details  relating  to  the  event  and  the  sur- 
rounding circumstances  are  quite  exact. 
(b)  Neither  distance  nor  intervening  obstacles  seem 

to  have  any  appreciable  effect. 
A  third  characteristic  (exceptional)  is  the  following. 
The  vision  may  affect  several  persons  either  at  the  same 
time  or  successively — it  seems  able  to  affect  animals 

*  We    shall    not    analyse    experimental    telepathy,    which    as    yet 
covers  only  elementary  facts. 

97 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

— sometimes  it  leaves  physical  traces.  Finally,  the 
telepathic  impression  may  not  affect  sight  alone,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  seemingly  objective  vision,  but  hearing  and 
touch  also. 


3. LUCIDITY* 

Lastly,  supernormal  psychology  includes  all  the 
infinite  varieties  of  lucidity;  presentiments,  sensorial 
impressions  beyond  the  range  of  the  senses,  the  precise 
vision  of  distant  or  past  events,  and  even  prevision  of 
the  future. 

Lucidity   may   be   described   as   that   subconscious 

faculty   which    permits    the   acquisition    of    knowledge 

without   the  assistance  of  the  senses,  and  outside  the 

conditions  which,  in  normal    life,  regulate  the  relation 

of  the  Self  with  other  selves  or  with  the  external  world. 

{a)  *  Without  the  assistance  of  the  senses.'      The 

senses  do  not,  in  fact,  intervene.     The  subject 

is  asleep  or  anaesthetised;   the  events  described 

are  beyond  the  sensorial  range;   they  are  often 

far  distant  and  shut  off  by  physical  barriers; 

the  knowledge  acquired  relates  sometimes  to 

events  which  have  not  yet  come  to  pass.     The 

whole  evidence  shows  that  the  senses  are  not 

in  action. 

Nevertheless,  by  a  psychological  habit,  the  subject 

gives  to  his  perceptions  a  sensorial  semblance  and  refers 

them  to  sight  or  hearing;    even  in  cases  when  neither 

sight  nor  hearing  could  possibly  have  been  their  cause. 

One  subject,  for  instance,  self-hypnotised  by  a  glass 
of  water  or  a  crystal  globe,  claims  to  see  therein  past, 
future,  or  distant  events.  He  is  but  projecting,  exterior- 
ising, and  objectifying,  a  sensation  abnormally  received. 

^  Consult   specially   Bozzano :    Les  Phinom^nes  Primoniioires;    and 
Dr  Osty  :    LucidiU  et  Intuition. 

98 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

In  another,  the  abnormal  perception  may  cause  an 
auditory  illusion  which  may  run  to  hallucination. 

(b)  *  Outside  the  conditions  which  in  normal  life 
regulate  the  relation  of  the  Self  with  other 
selves  or  with  the  external  world.' 

In  fact  these  perceptions  proceed  neither  from 
reasoning,  nor  from  any  of  the  normal  modes  of  expressing 
thought,  neither  from  language,  nor  writing,  nor  sight, 
nor  hearing.  They  require  neither  induction  nor 
deduction,  reflection,  research,  nor  effort. 

In  its  more  perfect  instances  lucidity  appears  like  a 
flash  which  suddenly  illuminates  the  recipient  and  gives 
him,  it  may  be,  knowledge  of  an  unknown  fact  removed 
from  all  possibilities  of  sensorial  perception,  or  complex 
knowledge  which  would  normally  require  much  intricate 
work  on  many  points  of  research.^  As  lucidity  shows 
itself  to  be  beyond  psychological  conditions,  whether 
sensorial,  dynamic,  or  physical,  so  it  also  shows 
itself  as  being  outside  the  conditions  of  time  and 
space. 

Neither  space  nor  material  obstacles  exist  for  it, 
and  time  seems  to  be  unknown. 

The  event  which  it  reveals  and  the  knowledge  it 
gives,  are  not  placed  in  Time  at  all.  When,  for  instance, 
in  the  famous  case  of  lucidity  by  Dr  Gallet,  he  announces 
the  election  of  M.  Casimir  Perrier  to  the  Presidency  of 
the  Republic  *by  451  votes,*  this  is  given  in  the  present 
and  not  in  the  future;  *  M.  Casimir  Perrier  est  e/u  .  .  .' 
Similarly  the  Sonrel  prediction  of  the  wars  of  1870-71, 
and  1 9 14-18,  given  in  1868,  shows  extremely  precise 
and  true  details  on  both  wars,  but  gives  them  in  the 
present  and  not  in  the  future.  The  visionary  describes 
the  disasters  of  1870,  Sedan,  the  siege  of  Paris,  the 
Commune;    the  war  of  19 14,  beginning  by  a  disaster 

*  Psychic  manifestations  which  suddenly  bring  out  a  calculation  of 
probability  or  a  result  of  subconscious  reasoning  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  lucidity.    Such  cases  have  only  the  semblance  of  lucidity. 

99 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  ending  in  complete  victory  ,  ,  ,  as  if  these  were 
events  he  were  actually  witnessing.* 


4. SPIRITOID    PHENOMENA 

Under  this  title  may  be  grouped  all  the  phenomena 
which  seem  to  be  produced  and  directed  by  an  external 
and  autonomous  intelligence  acting  through  the  physical, 
active,  or  psychic  powers  of  a  medium.  I  shall  not  enter 
here  on  the  description  of  these,  which  the  reader  will 
easily  find  elsewhere,*  but  will  content  myself  with  a 
few  remarks. 

In  the  first  place,  a  very  large  part  of  supernormal 
psychology  puts  on  these  spiritoid  semblances.  The 
simplest  as  well  as  the  most  complex  phenomena,  from 
automatisms  and  telekinesis,  up  to  predictions  of  the 
future,  are  very  often  attributed  by  the  subject  to  spiritist 
influence. 

The  alleged  personalities  frequently  make  affirmations 
agreeing  in  this  respect  with  those  of  the  medium;  and 
often  endeavour  to  give  proofs  of  their  identity.  These 
proofs  are  sometimes  very  simple,  sometimes  very 
intricate,  as  in  the  cases  of  cross-correspondence. 

Very  often  no  other  objection  can  be  made  to  these 
spiritoid  assertions  except  the  possibility  that  they  may 
all  be  explained  by  the  supernormal  faculties  of  the 
medium.  In  that  case  very  large  extensions  of  the 
faculties  of  crypto-psychism,  cryptomnesia,  second-sight, 
mento-mental  action,  lucidity,  and  teleplasticity  must 
be  admitted. 

For  all  the  details  of  supernormal  subconsciousness 
I  must  refer  the  reader  to  special  works,  for  at  the  present 
moment  I  am  not  presenting  these  facts  descriptively, 

*  These  astonishing   cases,    certainly   true,    were  reported   in  detail, 
after  minute  investigation,  in  the  Annates  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 
*  For  the  philosophic  discussion  of  these  facts,  see  Book  II. 

100 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

or  as  data,  but  regarding  them  from  a  strictly  philosophic 
point  of  view. 

From  this  standpoint  what  lesson  can  and  ought  to 
be  drawn  ?  Surely  that  the  subconscious  everywhere 
outstrips  and  transcends  the  categories  of  sensorial  and 
cerebral  capacity;  that  in  all  essentials  it  is  beyond  all 
representations,*  outside  even  the  category  of  repre- 
sentations, that  is  to  say,  outside  Space  and  Time.  This 
will  be  brought  out  with  all  necessary  clearness  in 
a  future  chapter. 

But  before  doing  this  it  is  needful  to  examine  the 
attempts  that  have  been  made  to  reconcile  the  phenomena 
of  the  Unconscious  with  the  classical  concept  of  the 
Self  as  a  synthesis  of  states  of  consciousness  and  as  a 
product  of  cerebral  activity. 

* '  Representation '  is  used  by  Dr  Geley  in  the  strictly  philosophical 
sense ;  "  the  energy  of  the  naind  in  holding  up  to  contemplation  what 
it  is  determined  to  represent." — Sir  William  Hamilton,  Metaphysics,  xxiv. 
— [Translator's  note.] 


CHAPTER  VI 

CLASSICAL    THEORIES    OF   THE    SUBCONSCIOUS 

It  would  seem  that  the  recent  influx  of  ideas  on  the 
Subconscious  should  have  disconcerted  the  classical 
psycho-physiology. 

Nevertheless  many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
reconcile  the  new  facts  with  the  old  theories. 

Most  are  based  on  very  conscientious  work,  but 
none  has  attained  its  object.  We  shall  examine  each 
in  turn  and  endeavour  to  show  wherein  they  are  insuffi- 
cient and  inadmissible. 

Classical  theories  of  the  subconscious  may  be  placed 
in  two  categories:  the  physiological  and  the  purely 
psychological. 


Physiological  Theories, 

There  are  two  physiological  theories:    the  theory 
of  Automatism  and  the  theory  of  Morbidity. 


I. ^THE   THEORY    OF    AUTOMATISM 

For  the  tentative  interpretation  of  the  subconscious, 
the  first  hypothesis  was  that  of  psychological  automatism, 
following  naturally  on  that  of  physiological  automatism. 
In  each  case  what  is  observed  is  held  to  be  merely  a 
passive  manifestation ;  and  unconscious  psychism,  accor- 
ding to  this,  is  simply  a  result  of  the  automatic  activity 
of  the  brain — unconscious  cerebration. 

To  support  this  theory  P.  Janet  specially  studied 

102 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

certain  pathological  conditions,  such  as  minor  epilepsy, 
elementary  symptoms  of  hysteria,  hypnosis,  somnam- 
bulism, and  mediumship. 

The  psychological  automatism  in  these  cases  was 
beyond  doubt,  and  to  generalise  from  these  data,  extend- 
ing automatism  to  the  whole  area  of  subconsciousness, 
was  but  one  step.    It  was  soon  taken. 

But  when,  leaving  the  lower  and  commonplace 
order  of  phenomena,  higher  subconscious  manifestations 
had  to  be  examined,  insurmountable  difficulties  arose. 

The  physiological  automatism  with  which  psychic 
automatism  was  compared,  is  of  two  kinds — ^innate  and 
acquired. 

Innate  automatism  is  shown  by  the  activity  of  the 
main  organic  functions  such  as  circulation  of  the  blood, 
or  digestion.  This  is  the  same  from  birth  to  death,  if 
not  quantitatively  at  least  qualitatively.  It  always 
remains  within  the  limits  proper  to  these  functions  and 
initiates  nothing  new.  Besides  the  fact  that  this  auto- 
matic dynamism  is,  as  we  have  seen,  unexplained,  it 
is  clear  that  it  cannot  help  us  to  understand  a  subconscious 
psychism  that  innovates  and  creates. 

Acquired  automatism  is  the  result  of  complicated 
interactions, — certain  modes  of  activity,  needing  at  first 
attention  and  continued  exercise  of  the  will,  come  by 
habit  to  be  performed  without  continuous  attention, 
and  with  a  minimum  of  effort. 

This  acquired  automatism  also  remains  within  the 
limits  prescribed  by  habit,  and  does  not  go  beyond 
them.  But  the  higher  subconscious  manifestations  are 
usually  sporadic,  and  in  no  case  do  they  resemble  habits. 

This  is  obvious  in  the  case  of  supernormal  manifesta- 
tions; these  can  never  become  customary.  Even  for 
the  less  mysterious  phenomena,  automatism  is  no 
explanation. 

Multiple  personalities  brought  to  light  in  certain 
individuals   show   spontaneity   and   self-directing   will, 

103 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

They  do  not  act  according  to  some  autonomous  habit, 
but  take  an  original  direction.  The  will  manifested  is 
not  only  sharply  defined;  it  also  differs  from  that  of  the 
subject,  and  may  be  opposed  or  even  hostile  to  it,  as 
in  the  case  of  Miss  Beauchamp,  studied  by  Dr  Morton 
Prince.^ 

In  mediumship,  this  spontaneity,  will,  and  autonomy 
of  the  so-called  secondary  personalities  appear  still  more 
remarkably;  they  sometimes  show  a  quite  complete 
psychism  of  their  own,  with  their  own  faculties  of  willing, 
knowing,  and  reasoning;  with  acquirements  often  very 
different  from  those  of  the  conscious  subject,  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  knowledge  of  a  language  unknown  to 
the  latter.  In  the  more  notable  cases,  there  would  seem 
to  be  really  nothing  in  common  between  the  two  person- 
alities. How  can  the  term  *  automatism  '  be  applied 
to  these  facts  } 

Let  us  now  pass  to  subconscious  productions  of  an 
artistic,  philosophic,  or  scientific  order.  Only  defective 
reasoning  can  attribute  inspiration  and  genius  to  cerebral 
automatism. 

Let  us  analyse  what  happens  in  these  subconscious 
productions. 

To  take  a  typical  case,  a  man  of  science,  an  artist, 
or  a  thinker  undertakes  a  certain  work.  Confronted 
with  some  unexpected  difficulties,  he  is  discouraged,  and 
stops.  To  his  surprise,  some  time  later,  the  solution 
which  he  had  vainly  sought  comes  to  him  without  effort, 
and  the  work  he  had  planned  is  easily  completed. 

This,  it  is  said,  is  because  the  brain  has  continued 
to  work  automatically  in  the  direction  of  the  original 
impulse;  but  it  is  impossible  to  find  in  physiology  an 
analogous  example  of  automatic  function. 

When,  for  instance,  one  learns  to  ride  a  bicycle,  a 
long  series  of  voluntary  efforts  have  to  be  repeated  to 
reach  the  stage  of  automatic  direction.     If  the  learner 

^  Dr  Morton  Prince  :    The  Dissociation  of  a  Personality. 
104 


"From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

were  to  break  off  discouraged,  no  amount  of  waiting 
would  find  him  more  advanced  for  a  second  attempt. 
In  the  interval  there  would  have  been  no  *  latent 
physiological  work  '  allowing  a  cessation  of  the  effort 
necessary  for  learning,  and  standing  in  lieu  of  that 
effort. 

Again,  when  in  training,  a  man  habituates  not  only 
his  muscles,  but  his  lungs  and  heart  to  endure  the 
fatigue  of  running;  a  single  effort  can  never  take  the 
place  of  methodical  and  continued  training.  When, 
then,  *  latent  work  by  the  brain  '  is  alleged,  that  is  a 
mere  guess  contrary  to  all  that  physiology  teaches;  it 
is  a  hypothesis  which  involves  an  entirely  new  and 
purely  gratuitous  notion ;  that  the  cerebral  organ 
works  in  a  manner  essentially  different  from  all  other 
organs. 

Let  us  now  take  another  case: — 

The  artist,  thinker,  etc.  .  .  .  does  not  foresee  the 
work  he  means  to  do,  and  does  not  prepare  it.  He 
produces  under  the  influence  of  an  *  inspiration  *  inde- 
pendent of  his  desire  and  will,  sometimes  contrary  to 
them.  There  is  not  in  this  case  the  original  impulse 
for  the  supposed  automatism.  Here  he  does  not 
direct  the  inspiration,  he  is  directed  by  it.  How,  then, 
can  we  speak  of  psychological  automatism.? 

*  The  unconscious  sequence  here,*  says  M.  Dwel- 
shauvers,  *  is  not  an  automatism  but  a  vital  action.' 

M.  Ribot  also  says,  *  Inspiration  reveals  a  power 
superior  to  the  conscious  individual,  strange  to  him 
though  acting  through  him — a  state  which  many 
inventors  have  described  by  saying  of  their  work — I 
had  no  part  in  it.' 

M.  Dwelshauvers,  in  his  recent  study  of  sub- 
conscious production,  has  abundantly  shown  that  above 
the  psychological  automatism  (which  is  but  a  common- 
place and  inferior  form  of  the  Unconscious),  there  is  an 
active  latent  unconsciousness  which  *  serves  as  an  arsenal 

105 


From  the  "Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

for  creative  synthesis  and  aids  a  man  in  producing  his 
most  perfect  mental  work.* 

What  are  we  to  conclude  ?  Simply  that  the  theory 
of  psychological  automatism  is  applicable  only  to  a  small 
number  of  the  less  important  facts  and  cannot  claim  to 
furnish  any  general  explanation. 

P.  Janet  finds  himself  obliged  to  admit  this,  and  he 
admits  it  reluctantly  and  ungraciously  when  he  writes 
as  follows. 

*  Since  the  time  when  I  used  this  word  **  subcon- 
scious "  in  a  clinical  and  commonplace  sense,  other 
authors  have  used  the  word  in  a  very  much  higher 
one.* 

*  This  word  has  been  used  to  designate  marvellous 
activities  which  exist,  so  it  would  seem,  within 
ourselves  without  our  suspecting  their  presence;  it 
has  been  used  to  expldn  sudden  enthusiasms  and  the 
divinations  of  genius.  ...  I  shall  not  venture  to 
discuss  theories  so  consoling,  which  may  perhaps 
be  true.* 

*  I  shall  limit  myself  to  the  observation  that  I 
am  busied  with  quite  other  things.  The  poor  sick 
folk  that  I  was  studying  had  no  kind  of  genius; 
the  phenomena  which  in  them  had  become  sub- 
conscious, were  very  simple  matters  which  are  part 
of  the  consciousness  of  other  men  without  giving 
any  cause  for  surprise.  They  had  lost  personal 
consciousness  and  the  power  of  self-direction ;  they 
had  sick  personalities — that  is  all.*^ 

This,  in  fine,  is  all  that  is  covered  by  automatic 
subconsciousness  properly  so  called.  The  higher  active 
subconsciousness,  being  entirely  different  in  essence 
and  nature,  must  be  clearly  distinguished  from  the 
former. 

*  p.  Janet,  Preface  to  J.  Jastrow's  St^conscienc$. 
I06 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


2. THE    THEORY    OF    MORBIDITY 

Another  general  explanation  which,  although  still 
less  logical  and  more  vain  and  arbitrary  than  the  first, 
has  had,  and  still  has  much  currency,  is  the  explanation 
by  morbidity.^ 

One  hesitates  to  avow  it,  but  it  is  this  poverty-stricken 
explanation  to  which  the  majority  of  psychologists 
to-day  are  not  afraid  to  appeal.  According  to  them 
everything  which,  from  the  psychological  point  of  view, 
departs  from  the  average,  must  proceed  from  disease. 
They  would  have  subconscious  powers  to  be  morbid 
products;  hypnotism,  akin  to  neurosis;  multiple  per- 
sonality, a  pathological  disintegration  of  the  Self; 
supernormal  phenomena,  symptoms  of  hysteria;  and 
as  for  the  works  of  genius,  they  are  simply  results  of 
madness. 

At  the  base  of  all  these  morbid  manifestations  they 
always  discover  an  essential  pathological  cause — *  degen- 
eration.* This  factor  of  *  degeneration '  is  the  more 
convenient  in  that  it  is  elastic ;  it  is  supposed  to  rule  both 
ordinary  and  hysteriform  neuropathic  cases  inferior 
degeneration),  and  the  manifestations  of  genius  (superior 
degeneration). 

Thus  everything  that  from  the  intellectual  point 
of  view  is  either  above  or  below  the  normal,  must  be 
the  result  of  disease. 

The  label  *  morbid  *  is  affixed  with  more  or 
less  discretion  or  indiscretion  by  different  schools  of 
psychiatry;  2    but  its  use  is  nearly  general. 

Dr  Chabaneix  speaks  of  auto-intoxication  and  over- 
pressure among  the  predisposed :  *  The  more  an  organ 
works,*  he  writes,  *  the  more  it  develops,  and  at  the 

*  The  chief  psychological  review  in  France  is  entitled :    Revue  de 
Psychologic  NormcUe  et  Pathologique. 

'Mental  therapeutics;   treatment  of  insanity. 

107 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

same  time,  the  more  liable  it  becomes  to  disease.  One 
of  the  diseases  of  the  brain  is  automatism,  or  the  appear- 
ance of  the  subconscious.  And  this  subconsciousness, 
instead  of  being  a  trouble  to  the  mind,  is  often  a  ferment 
of  creation,  when  it  is  not  itself  creation.* 

A  curious  disease,  which,  instead  of  being  a  cause 
of  *  trouble  *  and  of  diminution  to  the  individual, 
increases  his  capacities  and  powers! 

Lombroso,  for  his  part,  boldly  invokes  madness. 

Others  define  differently,  they  reduce  talent  and 
genius  to  arthritism.  But  the  record  in  this  respect  is 
held  up  to  the  present  by  Dr  Pascal  Serph.*  He  takes 
no  half-measures  and  has  the  courage  of  his  opinions. 
According  to  him  the  origin  of  genius  is  looked  for 
much  too  far  away — genius  is  purely  and  simply  the 
product  of  .  .  .  hereditary  syphilis! 

*  If  syphilis,*  Dr  Serph  gravely  concludes,  *  does  the 
harm  which  medical  men  are  unanimous  in  recognising 
and  fearing  for  mankind,  it  nevertheless  gives,  as  a  set-off, 
by  its  hypertrophic  action  on  the  brain,  the  possibility 
of  perfecting  human  action,  and  being  thus  creative 
of  the  special  ideas  of  genius,  it  compensates  to  some 
extent  for  its  ravages.* 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  restrain  some  impatience 
when  men  of  science  maintain  such  theories,  and  one 
feels  a  certain  disgust  at  having  to  refute  ideas  which 
deserve  only  contempt. 

It  is,  however,  necessary  to  do  this. 

Let  us  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  among  the 
various  morbid  factors  invoked,  one  only — neuropathy 
— seems  to  be  coincident  with  facts,  if  not  supported 
by  them. 

It  is  true  that  men  of  great  talent  or  genius  are 
almost  invariably  neuropathic.  But  what  is  neuro- 
pathy } 

Medical   science  does   not  know.     Neuroses,   and 

*  Gazette  Medicate  de  Paris,  July  12,  1916. 
108 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

even  madness  are  pure  enigmas  from  the  point  of  view 
of  pathological  anatomy. 

We  shall  see  that,  far  from  explaining  the  mechanism 
of  abnormal  or  superior  psychism,  neuroses  receive 
their  explanation  from  the  deeper  study  of  the  essential 
nature  of  the  subconscious. 

But  this  is  not  all,  even  if  we  suppose  the  theories  of 
morbidity  justified,  they  in  no  way  solve  the  problems 
which  the  manifestations  of  subconsciousness  set  before 
us.  To  say  '  genius  is  neurosis  or  madness  '  does  not 
help  us  to  understand  the  mechanism  of  the  works  of 
genius.  The  great  thinker,  artist,  or  man  of  science, 
brings  something  new  to  humanity;  he  creates.  You 
say — he  is  mad  I  So  be  it,  but  how  is  madness  creative  } 
Until  you  have  laid  before  our  eyes  the  mechanism  of 
the  subconscious  psychism,  you  have  only  put  the 
difficulty  one  step  back  by  affixing  the  epithet  *  morbid  ' 
to  it. 

To  say  that  secondary  personalities  are  only  products 
of  the  disintegration  of  the  Self,  is  not  to  make  them 
comprehensible,  rather  the  contrary.  The  disintegration 
of  a  psychic  entity  may  give  the  key  to  alterations  of 
personality,  but  only  to  those  alterations  which  diminish 
the  personality. 

This  diminution  of  personality  is  evident  in  certain 
cases  of  amnesia^  following  on  cranial  wounds,  on 
great  emotions,  severe  infection,  epilepsy,  etc. 

Diminished  personality  appears  also  in  the  psycho- 
logic automatism  described  by  P.  Janet.  But  in  the 
cases  of  complete  and  autonomous  secondary  personalities 
it  is  not  observable.  When  these  secondary  personalities 
occupy  the  whole  psychic  field  of  the  subject,  when  they 
show  a  very  original  will,  and  give  proof  of  powers  and 
knowledge  different  from  those  of  the  patient  and  some- 
times much  above  those  which  he  normally  possesses, 
one  can  no  longer  invoke  the  disintegration  of  the  Self 

*  Loss  of  memory. 
109 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

as  a  complete  explanation.  It  is  impossible  to  admit  that 
the  secondary  personality,  the  fraction  of  the  Self, 
should  be  as  extensive,  or  even  more  extensive  than  the 
total  Self.  The  part  is  never  equal  to  or  greater  than 
the  whole. 

Psychological  disintegration  must  therefore  be  given 
up  as  a  general  explanation  of  modifications  or  the 
personality. 

It  is  not  by  saying  that  such  and  such  a  medium  is 
hysterical  that  we  can  understand  the  action  at  a  distance 
of  her  motor  faculties  and  her  intelligence,  apart  from 
her  muscles,  her  senses  and  her  brain;  or  can  acquire 
the  key  to  the  difficult  problem  of  supernormal  psycho- 
physiology  involving  tKe  faculties  of  thought-reading, 
lucidity,  and  ideoplastic  or  teleplastic  action. 

There  is  this  final  argument  against  the  theory  of 
morbidity — it  is  contrary  to  the  logic  of  facts.  It  is 
contrary  to  the  whole  teachings  of  physiology  to 
declare  that  a  diseased  organ  can  produce  results 
superior  to  those  of  a  healthy  one,  especially  when 
those  results  occur  in  a  constant  and  semi-regular 
manner. 

There  is  an  untenable  contradiction  in  declaring 
physical  power  a  function  of  health,  and  the  mental 
power  of  genius  a  function  of  disease. 

Is  it  now  necessary  to  speak  of  other  less  general 
theories  of  morbidity,  restricted  to  one  or  another  group 
of  subconscious  phenomena  .?  It  will  suffice  briefly  to 
indicate  them. 

Azam  explained  the  duplication  of  personality  by 
the  separate  action  of  the  two  cerebral  lobes;  a  thesis 
which,  since  the  manifestation  of  multiple,  and  not 
merely  double,  personalities  in  the  same  individual,  has 
only  a  historic  interest. 

Dr  SoUier  explains  hysteria  by  disjunctions  among 
the  cerebral  cells;    all   the  symptoms  of  the  neurosis 

no 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

being  explained  by  the  non-activity  or  the  hyper-acti^dty 
of  certain  among  these  neurons. 

Professor  Grasset  thinks  to  explain  subconscious 
manifestations  by  a  disjunction  between  the  functioning 
of  Charcot's  schematic  *  polygon '  and  a  certain  centre 
O,  localised  somewhere  in  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain. 

To  all  these  theories  the  same  objections  can  be 
raised : — 

1.  They  are  adapted  only  to  a  few  facts,  leaving  out 

of  account  the  very  thing  which  is  most  impor- 
■    tant   in  subconsciousness — the  higher  crypto- 
psychism,  and  the  supernormal. 

2.  Even  for  the  limited  facts  which  they  cover  they 

are  insufficient,  since  they  assign  as  cause  the 
very  thing  which  has  to  be  explained — the  why, 
and  how,  of  these  disjunctions. 
Leaving  the  physiological,  we  will  now  pass  on  to 
the  psychological  theories  of  the  subconscious. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL   THEORIES    OF    THE    SUBCONSCIOUS 

These  theories  are  many  and  of  unequal  value. 
There  are  some  which  start  from  vicious  reasoning,  they 
are  petitiones  principii^  or  verbal  explanations.  We  will 
discuss  them  briefly. 

3. PETITIONES    PRINCIPII 

Apetitioprincipii  consists  in  carrying  back  a  mysterious 
occurrence  to  another  not  less  mysterious,  but  previously 
known  and  more  familiar.  Among  supernormal  phenom- 
ena for  instance,  telepathy  and  thought-reading  are  the 
most  familiar  and  the  best  known,  which  gives  them  a 
kind  of  priority  of  privilege,  so  that  it  is  sought,  by  any 
and  every  means,  to  reduce  all  intellectual  mediumship 
to  them;  which  is  absurd,  and  only  complicates  the 
whole   subject,  for  thought-reading  and  telepathy  are 

III 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

as  contrary  to  known  laws  as  are  clairvoyance  or  trans- 
cendental mediumistic  communications. 

Professor  Pouchet^  writes  as  racily  as  he  does 
logically  when  he  says: — 

*  To  demonstrate  that  a  brain  by  some  kind  of 
gravitation  acts  at  a  distance  on  another  brain  like 
a  magnet  on  iron,  the  sun  on  the  planets,  or  the 
.  earth  on  a  falling  body!  To  arrive  at  the  discovery 
of  an  influence,  a  nervous  vibration  propelling  itself 
without  any  material  conductor!  The  amazing 
thing  is  that  those  who  believe,  more  or  less,  in 
something  of  the  sort,  seem,  poor  fellows!  not 
even  to  suspect  the  importance  and  the  interest  of 
the  novelty  which  is  involved,  and  what  a  revolution 
this  would  be  for  the  social  world.  Prove  that,  my 
good  people,  and  your  names  will  stand  higher  than 
that  of  Newton;  and  I  can  assure  you  that  the 
Berthelots  and  the  Pasteurs  will  take  off  their  hats 
to  you! * 

A  still  more  familiar  begging  of  the  question  consists 
in  explaining  hypnotism  by  hysteria,  or  hysteria  by 
hypnotism.  *  What  is  there  astonishing  in  manifes- 
tations under  hypnotism  }  Analogous  and  spontaneous 
occurrences  are  known  in  hysteria!  Why  marvel  at 
hysterical  manifestations  ?  Similar  manifestations  can 
be  brought  about  by  hypnosis.* 

Then  yet  another  step  is  taken  in  the  way  of  begging 
the  question,  when  both  hysteria  and  hypnotism  are 
referred  to  suggestibility  or  to  Professor  Babinsky's 
*  Pythiatism.* 

But  suggestion,  a  usual  and  convenient  factor  in 
hypnosis  or  hysteria,  is  absolutely  valueless  and  of  no 
import,  as  a  philosophic  explanation.  ^ 

We  have  demonstrated  as  much  in  L  Etre  Sub- 
conscient. 

^  Quoted  by  M.  de  Rochas :    ExUriorisation  de  la  MotriciU. 

112 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

M.  Boirac  has  also  established  the  same  thing.  He 
writes : — 

*  What  conclusion  can  we  draw  from  the  whole 
discussion  ?  To  begin  with,  the  method  which 
consists  in  explaining  concrete  facts  by  abstract 
terms,  such  as  **  suggestion  "  and  "  suggestibility," 
appears  to  us  highly  unscientific;  it  is  a  relic  of  the 
old  scholastic  method — a  recourse  to  occult  entities, 
qualities,  and  virtues.  In  a  certain  patient  I  can 
induce  at  will  the  most  unlikely  hallucinations;  I 
can  paralyse  his  organs  as  I  please.  What  can  be 
the  cause  of  such  extraordinary  effects  }  Nothing 
simpler;  it  is  suggestion.  But  how  is  this  suggestion 
to  be  explained  }  Whence  comes  its  power  ?  That 
is  still  simpler;  it  comes  from  suggestibility,  a 
natural  property  of  the  human  brain.  So  they  think 
to  explain  facts  by  dressing  them  up  in  a  name,  just 
as  the  schoolmen  thought  they  were  explaining  the 
sleep  produced  by  opium  by  saying  that  opium  has 
a  dormitive  virtue.'  ^ 

M.  Boirac's  reasoning  may  be  applied  to  all  the 
classical  explanations  of  subconscious  phenomena,  both 
metapsychic  and  supernormal. 

Equally  valueless  are  the  explanations  which  may  be 
called  purely  verbal,  which  abound  in  the  classical 
psychology  of  the  Subconscious. 


4. ^ARTIFICIAL    DISJUNCTIONS    AND    VERBAL 

EXPLANATIONS 

Psychologists  are  prone  to  have  recourse  to  artificial 
disjunctions  among  the  subconscious  capacities.  Their 
efforts  are  directed  to  classifying  and  then  labelling  the 

*  Boirac  :    L'Avenir  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 
113 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

facts  they  have  classed.  They  thus  give  themselves 
the  illusion  of  understanding  them. 

Among  the  facts  of  subconsciousness  there  are  some' 
quite  familiar  and  well  known — the  facts  of  inspiration, 
so  these  are  made  into  a  class  apart,  the  active  sub- 
consciousness^ opposed  to  the  automatic  subconsciousness 
spoken  of  by  P.  Janet.  But  the  classification  goes 
neither  higher  nor  further ;  this  main  class  is  sub-divided 
into  secondary  classes — unconscious  invention;  uncon- 
scious memory;  unconscious  tendencies;  unconscious 
association  of  ideas;  unconscious  emotional  states; 
religious  unconsciousness,  etc.  .  .  . 

The  main  class  of  multiple  personalities  is  divided 
into  sub-classes,  labelled  infra-consciousness,  super- 
consciousness,  co-consciousness,  etc.,  etc. 

In  the  same  order  of  ideas  eminent  psychologists 
distinguish  subconscious  psychism  properly  so  called 
from  what  they  term  *  metapsychism,'  between  which 
there  are,  however,  only  analogies,  and  no  essential 
distinctions. 

The  normal  subconsciousness  and  the  metaphysic 
subconsciousness  are  manifested  in  very  closely  allied 
states : — 

The  state  of  ecstasy,  of  rapture,  of  absent-mindedness, 
in  a  poet,  an  artist,  or  a  philosopher  composing  under 
the  influence  of  inspiration,  is,  at  bottom,  identical 
with  the  secondary  state  of  the  medium.  Let  it  not 
be  said  that  the  medium  speaks,  acts,  and  writes  quite 
automatically,  whilst  the  artist,  even  when  his  conscious 
will  does  not  intervene,  nevertheless  knows  what  he  is 
producing.  This  distinction  does  not  always  obtain. 
Many  mediums  know  quite  well  what  is  about  to  be 
given  through  them;  just  as  the  artist  knows  bit  by 
Sit  what  he  will  produce  under  an  inspiration  of  which 
he  is  neither  the  master  nor  the  guide. 

Rousseau  covering  pages  of  writing  without  reflec- 
tion or  effort,  in  a  state  of  rapture  which   drew  tears, 

114 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Musset  listening  to  the  mysterious  *  genius  '  who  dic- 
tated his  verses,  Socrates  listening  to  his  daemon, 
Schopenhauer  refusing  to  believe  that  his  unexpected 
and  unsought  postulates  were  his  own  work,  all  behaved 
exactly  like  mediums. 

Moreover,  it  is  not  infrequent  that  mediumship 
co-exists  with  manifestations  of  artistic  inspiration. 
Musset,  for  instance,  was  a  sensitive  and  almost  a 
visionary. 

It  is  needless  to  remark  that  cryptomnesia  and  crypto- 
psychism  are  the  foundation  both  of  mediumship  and 
of  normal  subconscious  psychism.  In  fact  it  is  not 
always  easy  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  Will  it 
be  said  that  the  distinction  between  subconscious  psychism 
properly  so  called,  lies  in  the  appearance  of  the  super- 
normal element  ? 

But  where  does  the  supernormal  begin  ?  The  empti- 
ness and  futility  of  this  term  *  supernormal '  has  been 
shown  in  the  chapter  on  physiology.  It  was  there 
demonstrated  that  normal  and  so-called  supernormal 
physiology  are  equally  mysterious  and  involve  one  and 
the  same  problem.  The  case  is  the  same  for  psychology. 
The  subconscious,  as  a  whole,  is  incomprehensible  by 
classical  psychology. 

All  that  classical  psychology  has  been  able  to  do 
with  the  supernormal  is  to  multiply  the  number  of  labels. 
The  more  numerous  the  labels  the  greater  the  illusion 
of  understanding.  We  shall  then  have  exteriorisation 
or  sensation,  exteriorisation  or  motor  power,  exteriorisa- 
tion of  intelligence,  telesthesia,  telepathy,  telekinesis, 
teleoplasticity,  ideoplasticity,  etc.,  etc. 

M.  Boirac,  finding  this  nomenclature  still  too 
poor,  proposes  to  add  hypnology,  psychodynamics, 
telepsychism,  hyloscopy,  metagnomy,  biactinism,  dia- 
psychism,  etc.^ 

These   classifications,  indeed,  answer  to  an  innate 

i  Boirac  :  La  Psychologic  Inconnue  and  L'Avenir  des  Etudes  Psychiques. 

115 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

need  of  the  human  mind,  and  in  one  sense  are  legitimate. 
But  their  danger  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  come  to  mean 
something  more  than  classifications,  they  come  to  mean 
a  quite  illusory  interpretation;  they  turn  aside  the 
logical  endeavour  to  understand  and  reason,  or  put  it 
to  sleep.  They  have  yet  another  danger,  they  mask 
the  essential  unity  of  psychological  synthesis,  and  lead 
to  the  notion  that  the  diverse  subconscious  manifesta- 
tions may  be  susceptible  of  isolated  and  partial  explana- 
tion. Thus  they  mislead  the  investigator  and  retard  all 
philosophical  progress. 

The  question  of  the  Subconscious  is  passing  through 
the  stage  which  all  important  questions  of  scientific 
philosophy  have  passed  through.  Sooner  or  later  the 
common  link  between  all  questions  of  the  same  order 
is  found,  and  then  a  harmonious  synthesis  is  con- 
structed, which  is  capable  of  explaining,  if  not  all  the 
minor  difficulties  of  detail  (which  will  finally  be  resolved 
little  by  little  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the 
general  idea),  at  any  rate  all  the  major  difficulties.  But 
before  reaching  the  synthetic  phase,  the  human  mind 
struggles  painfully  through  a  long  analytical  phase, 
during  which  it  only  observes  facts  and  classifies  them 
more  or  less  skilfully. 

Nevertheless,  from  the  beginning  of  this  phase  it 
endeavours  to  find  explanations,  but  these  are  based 
on  a  small  number  of  facts  specially  studied  by  this  or 
that  investigator,  and  hastily  generalised  upon  by  him 
by  the  help  of  an  arbitrary  and  forced  adaptation  to  other 
groups  of  analogous  facts. 

Then  one  of  two  things  happens. 

Either  these  hasty  and  superficial  theories  are  also 
vague  and  inexact,  and  end  in  an  insidious  and  deceptive 
verbalism;  or  they  are  exact  but  cover  only  a  small 
number  of  facts,  and  cannot  stand  the  test  of  general 
application. 

Theories     of    these    two    categories    are    already 

ii6 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

numerous  in  the  domain  of  the  philosophy  of  the  sub- 
conscious. 

We  have  already  cited  the  partial  theories  of  Janet, 
of  Grasset,  and  of  Sollier, 

Two  more  may  be  cited,  both  of  a  general  character, 
but  still  insufficient. 


5. PROFESSOR  JASTROW  S   THEORY 

The  vague,  inexact,  and  merely  verbal  type  of  theory 
is  represented  by  that  of  Professor  Jastrow.  The  con- 
clusion of  his  long  study  on  Subconsciousness  is  as 
follows: — ^ 

*  The  impression  left  on  us  by  this  study  is 
that  the  mental  life  of  Man  does  not  rest  on  his 
consciousness  alone.  Below  consciousness  there 
exists  a  psychic  organisation  anterior  to  it^  which  is 
doubtless  the  source  whence  it  has  been  derived. 

*  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  origin  of  con- 
sciousness is  due  to  the  necessity  of  satisfying  some 
need  which  otherwise  would  not  have  been  com- 
pletely satisfied. 

*  Its  birth  marks  the  beginning  of  a  greatei 
co-ordination  of  functions.  Its  duty  consists  primarily 
in  integrating  experiences,  and  thus  establishing 
the  unity  of  the  mind.  Morbid  dissociations^  only 
bring  into  higher  relief  that  unity  which  the  normal 
mind  retains  during  its  whole  development,  by 
which  it  resists  all  the  vicissitudes  through  which  it 
passes. 

*  We  have  explained  the  different  psychic 
phenomena  by  the  light  of  evolutionist  concepts. 
.  .  .  The  interpretation  of  the  different  varieties  of 

*  J.  Jastrow:  La  Subconscience  (Alcan).  'My  italics,  G.  G. 

117  K 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

subconscious  activities'^  ought  to  be  considered  as 
pertaining  to  a  system  founded  on  mental  evolution. 
Subconsciousness  should  appear  as  a  natural  pro- 
duct of  mental  constitution.  It  should  also  be 
shown  that  in  proportion  as  the  complexity  of  the 
mind  increases,  the  subconsciousness  is  modified 
so  as  to  continue  to  fill  the  function  which  it  holds 
in  that  mind.  But  all  evolution  implies  arrest, 
weakening,  decadence,  and  dissolution;  and  in 
examining  the  products  of  the  dissolution  of  a 
function  we  often  come  to  understand  its  normal 
development  better;  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that 
we  have  in  this  work  studied  the  alterations  of  the 
mind  with  so  much  care.* 

This  theory  of  Dr  Jastrow's,  if  it  explains  nothing, 
at  least  gives  a  very  clear  idea  of  the  state  of  mind  of 
contemporary  psychologists.  It  appeals  to  differentia- 
tions which  are  not  essential  differences,  to  impotent 
and  vain  *  morbid  factors,'  and  to  a  mere  verbalism 
still  more  impotent.  Finally  it  is  absolutely  and  system- 
atically inexact.  It  seems  from  time  to  time  to  have  a. 
glimpse  of  a  part  of  the  truth,  but  is  incapable  of  rising 
to  a  free  flight  above  the  classical  routine  and  the  medley 
of  commonplaces.  It  sheds  absolutely  no  light  on  the 
nature,  the  origin,  or  the  essence  of  subconsciousness. 
It  in  no  way  explains  how  the  subconsciousness,  together 
with  a  far-reaching  cryptomnesia,  can  contain  so  many 
marvellous  and  powerful  faculties,  so  much  unexpected 
knowledge,  latent,  unused,  unusable,  and  necessitating 
a  morbid  disintegration  of  the  Self  in  order  to  be 
apparent  1 

6. M.    RIBOT*S   THEORY 

There  is  a  recent  theory  which  may  be  considered 
as    the    last    word    in    the   classical   concept    of    the 

»  My  italics,  G.  G. 
Il8 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

subconscious;  it  is  by  M.  Ribot.^     M.  Ribot  finds  it 
quite  simple:   there  is  no  unconscious  Self. 

*  This  term  and  the  concept  which  it  implies, 
are  an  abuse  of  language,  and  inadmissible.  The 
Self,  the  person,  is  a  whole,  composed  of  constantly 
varying  elements,  which  in  their  perpetual  **  becom- 
ing "  preserve  a  certain  unity.  But  nothing  similar 
is  found  in  this  imaginary  Self,  no  principle  of  unity, 
but  on  the  contrary  a  tendency  to  disperse  and  to  go 
to  pieces.  .  .  . 

'  To  sum  up,  this  supposed  Self  is  a  fraction, 
made  up  of  motor  elements  and  mechanisms.  When 
it  becomes  active,  it  is  an  orchestra  without  a  con- 
ductor. 

*  Unconscious  function  does  not  differ  from 
conscious  activity  except  by  the  want  of  order  and 
unity.  Its  structure  is  made  up  of  "  psychic 
residues,"  that  is  to  say,  of  "  isolated  or  associated 
elements  which  were  once  states  of  consciousness 
...  it  is  extinct  consciousness,  frozen  and  crystal- 
lised as  to  its  motor  elements.' 

Nevertheless,    M.    Ribot    admits    there    is    in    the 
unconscious  *  some  impenetrable  basal  matter.* 

*  This  fact — however  it  may  be  explained — that 
there  is  in  us  a  buried  life  which  appears  only  by 
glimpses  and  never  in  its  entirety,  is  far-reaching; 
the  fact  is  that  this  self-knowledge  (yvuOi.  ffeavrdv) 
is  not  merely  difficult,  but  impossible.  We  must 
recognise  our  **  absolute  incapacity  to  know  with 
any  certainty  our  own  individuality  in  its  entirety.'*  * 

In  fine,  according  to  M.  Ribot,  the  conscious  Self  is 
a  co-ordination  of  states;    and  the  unconscious  Self  is 

*  Ribot :   La  Vie  Inconsciente  et  les  Mouvements. 

iig 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

a  residue  of  former  states  of  consciousness.  The  activity 
of  the  former  reveals  a  certain  unity,  while  that  of  the 
latter  is  entirely  anarchic  and  disordered.  No  doubt, 
he  admits,  there  are  obscurities,  but  these  cannot  be 
helped;  what  we  do  not  understand  in  psychic  individu- 
ality is  only  that  which  it  is  impossible  to  understand. 
We  can  take  note  of  this  avowal  of  impotence.  As 
to  M.  Ribot's  actual  theory,  its  insufficiency  puts  it 
beyond  discussion.  The  data  on  which  it  rests  take 
no  account  of  what  we  may,  with  M.  Dwelshauvers, 
call  the  latent  active  subconsciousness,  nor  of  the 
supernormal.  It  has,  therefore,  no  claim  to  be  considered 
a  general  theory. 


7. CONCLUSIONS    FROM    THE    «;TUDY    OF    CLASSICAL 

PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGY 

Such  are  the  classical  explanations  of  subconscious 
phenomena. 

The  entire  and  flagrant  insufficiency  of  these  explana- 
tions is  obvious.  The  classical  concept  of  physiological 
and  psychological  individuality  appears  on  examination 
yet  more  limited  and  deficient  than  the  classical  concept 
of  evolution. 

The  latter  has,  at  all  events,  succeeded  in  bringing 
to  light  the  secondary  factors;  and  if  mistaken  as  to 
their  import,  if  it  has  not  been  able  completely  to  explain 
transformism,  it  has,  at  any  rate,  placed  its  reality 
beyond  question.  The  former,  on  the  contrary,  has  not 
succeeded  in  solving  any  one  of  the  problems  which  it 
undertakes. 

Shut  in  by  the  narrow  limits  of  polyzoism  and  poly- 
psychism,  which  hide  from  it  the  essential  reality  of 
things,  it  is  faced  by  riddles  on  all  sides;  the  riddle  of 
the  formation  and  the  maintenance  of  the  organism, 
the    riddle    of    Life,    the.  riddle    of    personality,    the 

120 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

riddle  of  consciousness,  and  the  riddle  of  sub- 
consciousness. 

Incapable  of  a  synthetic  outlook,  its  analyses  have 
resulted  in  the  factitious  generalisations  of  a  sterile 
method,  which  only  escape  from  insufficiency  to  fall  into 
absurdity.  The  classical  concept  of  the  individual  carries 
on  it  the  brand  of  lamentable  impotence  in  what  we 
may  call  the  contemporary  official  academic  psycho- 
physiology. 

Devoid  of  originality,  depth,  and  truth,  this  official 
psycho-physiology  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  the 
other  sciences  which  form  a  part  of  the  marvellous 
developments  of  our  age. 

Deprived  of  their  light,  it  makes  as  it  were  a  dark 
zone  in  which  the  best  minds  blindly  grope  and 
struggle  in  vain.  ...  It  is  time  that  a  strong  wind  of 
pure  air  should  blow  away  the  thick  and  heavy  fog  of 
petty  ideas  linked  to  petty  facts. 


CHAPTER  VII 

RATIONAL    PSYCHOLOGICAL    INFERENCES    BASED    ON    THE 
SUBCONSCIOUS 

Our  study  of  classical  psycho-physiology  has  enabled 
us  to  probe  to  the  quick  the  errors  and  illusions  due  to 
the  ascending  method  which,  starting  from  elementary 
facts,  claims  to  interpret  complex  ones. 

Let  us  now  boldly  use  the  opposite,  descending 
method;  and  consider  first  and  foremost  the  most 
complex  facts  of  psychology  ;  i.e.  the  subconscious 
phenomena. 

This  method  will  give  in  the  psychic  domain  the 
results  it  has  given  in  the  physiological;  a  new  and 
brilliant  light  on  our  path,  making  our  investigations 
simple,  easy,  and  fruitful. 


I. THE  SUBCONSCIOUS   IS  THE  VERY  ESSENCE  OF 

INDIVIDUAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

Starting  without  preconceived  ideas,  and  proceeding 
to  the  study  of  subconscious  psychology  without  heed 
to  the  formulae  and  dogmas  of  classical  teaching,  we 
experience  a  great  surprise. 

The  subconscious  appears  as  the  very  essence  of 
individual  psychology. 

That  which  is  most  important  in  the  individual 
psychism  is  subconscious.  The  foundation  of  the  Self, 
Its  characteristic  qualities,  are  subconscious.  All  the 
innate  capacities  are  subconscious;  likewise  the  higher 
faculties — intuition,  talents,  genius,  artistic  or  creative 
inspiration.    These  faculties  are  cryptoid  in  their  origin, 

122 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

cryptoid  in  their  manifestations,  the  greater  part  of 
which  escape  from  the  will,  from  the  normal  and  regular 
direction  of  the  individual,  and  show  their  existence  only 
by  bringing  to  light  intermittent  and  apparently  spon- 
taneous results. 

This  subconscious  psychic  activity,  powerful  in 
itself,  is  reinforced  by  a  still  more  potent  and  infallible 
memory  which  leaves  the  feeble  and  limited  conscious 
memory  far  behind. 

By  the  side  of  the  subconscious,  the  conscious 
seems  but  a  restricted,  limited,  and  truncated  psychism; 
and  even  this  psychism  in  its  more  important  manifesta- 
tions is  conditioned  by  that  cryptoid  portion  of  the  Self 
which  is  its  foundation. 

In  a  word,  everything  happens  as  though  the 
conscious  were  but  a  part,  and  that  the  smaller  part, 
of  the  Self;  a  part,  moreover,  entirely  conditioned  by 
the  more  important  part  which  remains  cryptoid  in  the 
ordinary  circumstances  of  normal  life. 

Such  a  declaration  is  an  insoluble  mystery  for  the 
classical  psychology  which  considers  the  Self  to  be  the 
sum  of  the  consciousness  of  its  neurons.  Starting  from 
that  concept  it  is  impossible  to  understand  either  crypto- 
psychism  or  cryptomnesia,  or  even  to  attempt  any  but 
purely  verbal  explanations  of  them. 


2. THE    IMPOTENCE    OF     CLASSICAL    PSYCHOLOGY    BEFORE 

CRYPTOPSYCHISM    AND    CRYPTOMNESIA 

From  the  point  of  view  of  individualist  psychology 
cryptopsychism  appears  nonsense.  How  can  a  part  of 
the  mental  activity  escape  from  the  control  of  the 
individual  or  be  accessible  to  him  only  irregularly  and 
fortuitously  ?  How  can  this  involuntary  and  latent 
mental  activity  be  superior  to  that  which  is  voluntary 
and  conscious  }     How  can  all  the  higher  powers,  not 

123 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

only  the  supernormal  faculties,  but  also  creative  inspira- 
tion, genius,  and  all  that  is  essential  in  the  intellect  from 
the  psychic  point  of  view,  be  for  the  most  part  inaccessible 
and  unknown  ?  Why,  in  a  word,  are  they  subconscious 
and  not  conscious  ?  Once  more  this  is  impossible  to 
understand  from  the  data  of  classical  psychology. 

Basing  his  reasoning  on  these  arguments,  Myers  had 
no  difficulty  in  demonstrating  the  impossibility  of  making 
cryptopsychism  a  product  of  normal  physiological  evolu- 
tion. There  is,  in  fact,  an  absolute  contradiction  in 
establishing  the  existence  of  faculties  at  once  very 
powerful  and  very  useful,  but  at  the  same  time  mostly 
unusable  in  the  normal  life  of  the  individual. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  cryptomnesia. 

This,  as  we  have  seen,  seems  to  have  an  immense 
power,  a  reach  which  seems  limitless.  It  seems  to 
register  faithfully  everything  which  has  come  under  our 
senses,  whether  consciously  or  unknown  to  us,  and  to 
»-egister  indelibly. 

Such  a  concept  differs  in  toto  from  all  the  classical 
concepts  of  memory. 

The  ordinary  memory  is  most  precise  when  the  fact 
has  forcibly  arrested  the  attention  and  is  also  recent. 

If  the  fact  registered  by  the  memory  is  of  little  or 
no  importance  to  the  individual,  it  soon  disappears  for 
ever,  unless  it  should  chance  to  be  retained  by  reason  of 
an  association  with  more  important  ideas.  Similarly  if 
the  fact  registered  is  distant  in  time,  remembrance 
becomes  vague,  and  in  the  end  disappears,  often  entirely. 
This  is  a  regular  and  normal  sequence  conformable  to 
all  that  physiology  teaches. 

The  impression  produced  on  the  brain  is  superficial 
and  ephemeral  for  states  of  consciousness  of  moderate 
intensity,  and  even  for  more  important  states  this 
impression  tends  to  disappear  in  time.  Le  Dantec* 
thus  sums  up  his  psychological  theory  of  memory. 

*  Le  Daxktec  :    Le  Diterminisme  Biologique. 
124 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

*  There  are  two  things  to  consider  in  memory 
from  the  objective  point  of  view  : — 

*  I.  The  fact  that  we  have  not  really  forgotten 

anything  which  it  is  possible  for  us  to  recall. 

*  2.  The    operation    in    which    this    recollection 

consists. 

*  The  former  is  a  histological  ^  peculiarity,  the 
latter  is  the  correlative  of  a  physiological  fact. 

*  If  we  execute  any  operation,  mental  or  other, 
a  certain  number  of  times,  the  path  traversed  by  the 
corresponding  reflex  will  be  beaten  into  a  thorough- 
fare by  that  reflex  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
functional  assimilation.  In  our  nervous  system, 
therefore,  there  will  be  a  certain  number  of  histo- 
logical modifications  correlative  to  the  operation  in 
question.  As  long  as  these  histological  modifications 
persist,  the  histological  memory  of  the  operation 
will  persist;  it  will  suffice  to  repeat  it  from  time 
to  time  to  maintain  this  histological  memory  by 
functional  assimilation.  If  a  long  time  passes 
without  repetition,  the  plastic  destruction  which 
accompanies  the  repose  of  an  organ  will  destroy 
this  particular  path  in  the  nervous  system;  there 
will  be  forgetfulness. 

*  When  the  forgetfulness  is  complete  and  absolute 
it  is  irremediable.  The  histological  memory  having 
vanished,  no  psychological  memory  can  remain. 
This  seems  obvious,  and  seems  to  be,  in  fact,  the 
sequence  and  the  condition  of  the  ordinary  memory.* 

Now  cryptomnesia  is  entirely  different;  it  retains 
not  only  important  facts  but  unimportant  ones,  even 
those  which  have  not  claimed  the  conscious  attention  of 
the  person. 

Further,  the  registration  of  states  of  consciousness 

•Histological,    Gr.    isT6j= tissue,    pertaining   to   the   tissue    (of   the 
brain). 

125 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

by  the  occult  memory  is  not  affected  by  the  lapse  of 
time.     The  registration  seems  indelible. 

The  range  of  latent  memories  extends  from  the  most 
insignificant  details,  even  those  unconsciously  registered, 
to  the  most  important  facts  of  conscious  life.  The 
remembrance,  even  when  it  seems  to  have  wholly 
vanished,  and  is  inaccessible  to  the  normal  self,  can 
reappear  in  its  entirety  as  the  foreground  of  abnormal 
states,  especially  in  somnambulism  or  mediumship. 

Cryptomnesia  records  not  only  external  experiences 
but  internal  ones  also.  It  retains  not  only  real  impressions 
but  also  those  of  an  imaginative  order.  Imagination, 
which  plays  so  large  a  part  in  normal  psychism,  creates 
and  realises  fictitious  positions,  and  these,  as  well  as 
real  facts,  are  registered  by  cryptomnesia.  Similarly, 
of  course,  all  the  emotions  and  states  of  the  soul. 

In  fine,  everything  which  has  occupied  the  psychic 
field,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  remains  indestructibly 
even  when  it  seems  for  ever  lost.  No  matter  whether  a 
very  long  time  has  elapsed  since  the  sensorial  or  psychic 
impression  was  made,  no  matter  that  the  cerebral  cells, 
which  vibrated  synchronously,  have  doubtless  since  then 
been  many  times  renewed,^  in  despite  of  time  and 
change  the  remembrance  remains  integrally  and  indelibly 
graven  in  the  Subconscious. 

How  }  Why  }  To  classical  physiology  the  mystery 
is  insoluble. 

The  entire  subconscious  memory  seems,  therefore, 
to  be  independent  of  cerebral  contingencies.  Cases  have 
even  been  quoted  in  which  it  has  reappeared  by  flashes, 
in  spite  of  the  loss  of  normal  memory  through  injuries 
to  the  brain.  Such  is  the  case  of  Mr  Hanna,  a  very 
characteristic  one  in  this  respect."  Mr  Hanna,  by  reason 
of  a  fall  on  his  head,  forgot  entirely  the  whole  of  his 

*  In  any  case  the  impression  made  on  them  has  been  effaced  and 
has  disappeared. 

»  Sidy  and  Goodhart :  Multiple  Personality. 

126 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

past  life,  all  his  knowledge  and  all  his  acquirements,  and 
returned*  to  the  psychological  state  of  a  new-born  babe 
who  has  everything  to  learn.  But  curiously  enough, 
though  the  memory  had  disappeared,  the  capacity  to 
learn  was  intact.  Now  during  this  process  of  re- 
education, M.  Flournoy  records,  *  he  had  dreams  and 
visions,  incomprehensible  to  himself,  which  he  described 
with  astonishment  to  his  relations,  and  in  which  they 
recognised  very  exact  recollections  of  places  where  the 
patient  had  been  before  his  accident.*  There  was, 
therefore,  a  latent  memory,  also  clearly  shown  by  his 
power  of  very  rapid  learning. 

In  fine,  the  study  of  cryptomnesia  clearly  brings  out 
that  everything  happens  as  though  the  psychic  state 
which  we  call  a  remembrance,  registered  by  the  cerebral 
cells, — ephemeral  as  they  and  destined  soon  to  disappear 
with  them, — were  at  the  same  time  registered  in  *  a 
something '  permanent,  of  which  this  remembrance 
will  henceforward  be  an  integral  and  permanent  part. 

Let  us  clearly  retain  this  conclusion;  its  importance 
will  appear  later.  It  will  suffice  at  present  to  establish 
a  first  inference  from  the  facts. 

There  are  in  the  living  being  powerful  and  extended 
but  subconscious  faculties  which,  although  cryptoid  and 
not  in  the  main  within  the  consciousness  nor  under  the 
normal  and  direct  control  of  the  will,  yet  condition  the 
individual  psychism. 

There  is  a  subconscious  memory  different  from  the 
normal  memory,  more  certain  and  more  extensive  than 
it  and  seeming  almost  illimitable. 

These  facts  take  us  far  beyond  the  limits  of  classical 
notions  on  the  Self,  its  origin,  its  end,  and  its  destinies. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  academic  knowledge  which  we 
have  thought  definitely  established  by  the  natural 
sciences,  by  physiology  or  psychology,  that  can  account 
for  subconscious  phenomena,  or  which  is  not  in  flagrant 
opposition  to  them. 

127 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

In  a  word,  this  truly  far-reaching  induction  puts  a 
question  more  far-reaching  still.  We  are  imperatively 
led  to  ask  ourselves  whether  the  whole  classical  psycho- 
physiology  is  not  a  mere  monument  of  errors  ? 

From  this  point  forward  it  becomes  a  duty  to 
reconsider  all  its  teaching,  and  above  all  to  examine  by 
the  light  of  facts  the  main  dogma  on  which  the  whole 
structure  is  founded,  the  dogma  of  psycho-physiological 
parallelism. 

It  is  important  to  investigate  this  parallelism  wherever 
it  is  affirmed  to  exist,  and  verify  whether  it  can  be 
adapted  to  the  subconscious  facts. 


3. ^ABSENCE  OF  PARALLELISM  BETWEEN  THE  SUBCON- 
SCIOUS ON  THE  ONE  HAND,  AND  THE  STATE  OF 
DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BRAIN,  HEREDITY,  AND 
SENSORIAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  ACQUIREMENT  ON 
THE    OTHER    HAND 

To  begin  with,  we  are  taught  that  psychic  develop- 
ment accompanies  quite  regularly  the  development  of 
the  brain,  and  is  proportional  to  that  development 
during  childhood  and  up  to  maturity. 

But  subconscious  psychism  has,  among  its  other 
characteristics,  that  of  appearing,  often  in  all  its 
force,  long  before  the  complete  development  of  the 
brain. 

Without  here  speaking  of  the  supernormal  sub- 
consciousness, which  is  more  frequent  in  children  than 
in  adults,  the  precocious  manifestation  of  genius, 
especially  in  art,  is  a  commonplace,  and  it  is  needles? 
to  cite  instances  of  what  is  so  well  known.  This  emer- 
gence of  genius  in  advance  of  the  complete  development 
of  the  brain  is  one  fact  at  issue  with  the  theory  of  psych  > 
physiological  parallelism.  Another  point,  still  more 
important,  is  that  psychic  development,   as  far  as  it 

128 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

concerns  the  subconscious,  appears  to  be  independent 
of  hereditary  conditions,  independent  also  of  sensory- 
acquirement,  and  of  the  effort  necessary  for  conscious 
intellectual  acquirement. 

Whence,  indeed,  do  the  subconscious  powers  come  ? 
These  powers,  manifest  as  talent,  genius,  or  inspiration, 
are  not  acquired,  they  are  innate.  Work,  enthusiasm, 
or  repeated  effort,  may,  to  some  degree,  develop  them; 
it  cannot  create  them. 

How  can  we  comprehend  these  innate  powers  ? 
The  failure  of  all  attempts  at  interpretation,  whether  by 
heredity  or  cerebral  conformation  is  now  definite. 

The  examples  adduced  of  well  and  clearly  established 
psychic  heredity  are  quite  exceptional. 

The  best  known  is  that  of  the  family  of  John 
Sebastian  Bach,  which,  between  1550  and  1846,  pro- 
duced twenty-nine  eminent  musicians.  But  is  this 
entirely  due  to  heredity  ?  To  be  sure  of  this,  the  other 
factors — surrounding  influences,  education,  family  tradi- 
tions, collective  enthusiasm,  and  so  forth,  should  be 
eliminated. 

What  is  extraordinary  is  not  that  here  and  there 
we  should  find  cases  of  seeming  psychic  heredity,  but 
rather  that,  having  regard  to  the  frequency  and  triteness 
of  physical  inheritance,  we  meet  with  so  few.  The  fact  is 
that  the  function  of  heredity  is  as  indistinct  and  secondary 
in  psychology  as  it  is  important  and  predominant 
in  physiology.  Certain  predispositions,  especially  the 
artistic,  are  sometimes  hereditary,  but,  as  is  well  known, 
high  psychic  faculties — talent  and  genius — are  not 
traceable  to  ancestry  oftener  than  they  are  transmitted 
to  posterity. 

The  differences  between  physical  and  psychical 
inheritance  are  too  distinctive  to  be  referred  to  physio- 
logical causes.  How  can  we  explain  why  two  brothers 
may  resemble  each  other  outwardly,  and  morally  have 
nothing  in  common  } 

129 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  very  marked  psychic  inequalities  between 
persons  of  the  same  parentage  and  of  similar  life  and 
education,  are  in  no  way  correlative  to  their  physical 
inequalities. 

Physiologists,  indeed,  no  longer  seek  the  cause  of 
these  psychic  inequalities  in  the  weight,  size,  or  con- 
formation of  the  brain;  they  invoke  imperceptible  and 
inappreciable  variations  in  the  cerebral  tissue,  unper- 
ceived  causes,  diverse  influences  (pathological  or  other) 
during  intra-uterine  life,  unknown  conditions  of  con- 
ception, genealogical  combinations,  etc.  ...  all  of 
them  hypotheses  without  even  the  beginnings  of  proof. 

To  sum  up:  from  the  fact  that  it  is  inborn  and  not 
hereditary,  the  subconscious  appears  to  be  as  indepen- 
dent of  the  anatomical  organisation  of  the  brain  as  it  is 
of  intellectual  acquirements  and  the  efforts  these  require. 

From  the  fact  that  it  often  appears  from  infancy, 
it  seems  independent  of  the  complete  development  of 
the  brain. 

Here,  then,  is  one  point  established.  There  is  no 
psycho-physiological  parallelism  between  the  appearance 
or  the  development  of  the  subconscious,  and  the  indi- 
\ndual  development  of  the  nerve-centres. 


4. ^ABSENCE  OF    PARALLELISM    BETWEEN    THE    SUBCON- 
SCIOUS   AND    THE    CEREBRAL    ACTIVITY 


*  Psychic  activity,*  we  are  next  taught,  *  is  pro- 
portional to  the  activity  of  the  nerve-centres.' 

There  the  reasoning  is  simple  and  clear.  If  there  is 
one  axiom  which  physiology  cannot  deny  without 
stultifying  itself,  it  is  that  *  the  output  of  an  organ  of 
given  power  is  proportional  to  the  degree  of  its  activity.* 
The  analytical  study  of  conscious  psychism,  taking  the 
seeming   psycho-physiological    parallelism   as   its    basal 

130 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

fact,  was  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Self  is  a 
function  of  the  brain,  or,  at  least,  cannot  exist  apart 
from  it. 

*  We  can  no  more,'  writes  Haeckel,  *  separate  our 
individual  soul  from  the  brain,  than  the  voluntary  move- 
ment of  the  arm  can  be  separated  from  the  contraction 
of  our  muscles.'  ^ 

Now  in  subconscious  psychism,  this  parallelism 
no  longer  exists.  If,  for  the  moment,  we  ignore  the 
results  of  the  automatic  activity  of  the  brain  (which 
constitutes  a  kind  of  inferior  subconsciousness),  no 
connection  can  be  found  between  the  active  or  superior 
subconsciousness  and  the  degree  of  cerebral  activity. 

On  the  contrary,  the  less  active  the  cerebral  organ, 
the  greater  the  activity  of  the  superior  subconsciousness. 
It  appears  in  full  strength,  not  by  a  voluntary  psychic 
effort,  but  in  the  inaction  or  the  repose  of  the  brain ;  in 
states  of  distraction,  reverie,  or  even  of  natural  or  induced 
sleep. 

Beaunis  ^  who  has  studied  the  subconscious,  not  as 
a  psychologist,  but  as  a  physiologist,  remarks  as  follows. 
*  Subconscious  work  does  not  produce  weariness  like 
conscious  work  .  .  .  and  I  would  say  to  all  those  who 
live  by  the  work  of  their  brains,  to  those  who  follow 
science,  literature,  and  art,  "  let  the  subconscious  do 
the  work,  it  never  gets  tired."  ' 

After  that,  one  wonders  how  a  physiologist  of  the 
standing  of  Beaunis  has  failed  to  see  the  momentous 
inference  from  such  a  declaration.  This  inference  is, 
however,  inevitable — subconscious  psychism  is  entirely 
and  specifically  distinct  from  voluntary  effort. 

Effort  can  do  nothing  to  create  subconscious  psychism. 
At  most  it  can  start  its  activity  and  guide  it  in  a  given 
direction,  that  is  all.  Far  from  continued  effort  helping 
it,  cessation  of  effort  is  the  condition  for  the  successful 
realisation  of  intuitive  and  artistic  works  of  genius. 

*  Haeckel :  Le  Monisme.  '  Quoted  by  M.  Dwelshauvers. 

131 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Moreover,  while  intellectual  effort  is  intermittent, 
and  cerebral  function  demands  long  periods  of  repose, 
the  capacities  of  the  subconscious  remain  permanent. 
Not  only  does  it  not  disappear  in  this  repose  of  the 
brain,  but  it  takes  its  highest  flights  in  states  of  cerebral 
torpor,  reverie,  and  distraction.  It  is  in  these  very  various 
states,  all  characterised  essentially  by  the  absence  of 
work  and  effort,  that  inspiration  reveals  its  full  powers 
and  spontaneity. 

The  dissociation  of  subconscious  output  from  activity 
of  the  brain  and  voluntary  effort  cannot  be  over- 
emphasised. 

In  this  subconscious  output  everything  happens  as 
if  it  were  entirely  independent  of  cerebral  physiology. 

5. ABSENCE    OF    PARALLELISM    BETWEEN    CRYPTOMNESIA 

AND    CEREBRAL    PHYSIOLOGY 

Parallelism  is  as  absent  from  cryptomnesia  as  it  is 
from  cryptopsychism.  As  has  already  been  shown  at 
length,  the  registration,  the  retention,  and  the  recollec- 
tion of  states  of  subconscious  memory,  do  not  depend 
on  effort,  and,  strictly  speaking,  are  independent  of  the 
conditions  and  contingencies  of  the  normal  cerebral 
memory. 

Further,  the  subconscious  memory  is  vastly  more 
extended  and  deeper  than  the  normal  memory;  and, 
above  all,  it  is  as  indelible  as  the  normal  memory  is 
ephemeral,  like  the  neurons  with  which  it  is  associated. 

Nowhere  can  there  be  found  any  trace  of  psycho- 
physiological parallelism  for  the  subconscious. 

6. ^ABSENCE    OF    CEREBRAL    LOCALISATIONS    FOR    THE 

SUBCONSCIOUS 

We  are  told  that  *  psychological  faculties  proceed 
from  clearly  defined  (cerebral)  localisations.' 

132 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Is  it  necessary  to  point  out  that  it  is  impossible  to 
find  cerebral  localisations  for  subconscious  faculties  ? 
When  the  entire  want  of  psycho-physiological  parallelism 
in  all  subconscious  action  is  borne  in  mind,  even  the 
search  for  it  in  this  instance  will  seem  absurd,  a  priori. 
Let  us  pass  on. 


7. ABSENCE     OF     PARALLELISM     BETWEEN    THE    SENSORIAL 

AND    THE    SUBCONSCIOUS    POWERS 

It  is  affirmed  that  *  psychical  activity  is  narrowly 
conditioned  by  the  extent  of  organic  capacity.  It  is 
strictly  inseparable  from  it.  The  material  which  the 
intelligence  uses  comes  to  it  from  the  senses.  The  range 
of  the  senses  therefore  limits  the  range  of  psychism.' 

There  are  as  many  errors  as  words  in  this,  so  far  as 
the  subconscious  is  concerned. 

The  origin  of  subconscious  capacities  is  not  sensorial, 
for  these  capacities  are  inborn.  The  range  of  sub- 
conscious capacities  transcends  in  every  direction  the 
categories  of  the  sensorial  powers. 

The  higher  inspiration,  intuition,  and  genius,  are 
totally  independent  of  acquired  knowledge. 


8. ABSENCE         OF         PARALLELISM         BETWEEN        ORGANIC 

CAPACITY     AND     THE     SUPERNORMAL     SUBCONSCIOUS- 
NESS 

Supernormal  facts  prove  finally  that  the  subconscious 
psychism  outranges  all  the  organic  capacities,  since  it 
manifests  itself  without  their  aid  or  even  altogether 
externally  to  them. 

The  phenomena  of  materialisation,  described  in 
Chapter  II.,  show  a  dynamo-psychism  actually  separable 
from  the  organism.  We  have  here  the  absolute  negation 
i>f  classical  parallelism. 

133  L 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

There  is  no  psycho-anatomical  parallelism,  for 
sensorial  action  may  appear  completely  outside  the 
organs  of  the  senses;  motor  actions  may  be  exercised 
outside  the  muscles;  psychic  action  may  develop  outside 
the  brain! 

There  is  no  psycho-physiological  parallelism,  for  all 
apparent  sensorial,  motor,  or  intellectual  action  may  be 
suppressed  or  inert.  The  body  of  the  subject  whose 
sensibility  is  exerted  at  a  distance,  is  usually  during  the 
whole  time,  profoundly  anaesthethetised.  Her  muscles 
do  sometimes  make  vague  associated  reflex  movements 
during  motor  exteriorisations,  but  these  synergetic 
contractions  (not  always  present)  never  represent  an 
effort  corresponding  to  the  effect.  As  to  her  nervous 
centres,  they  are  in  a  state  of  annihilation  varying  from 
torpor  to  a  special  kind  of  trance,  a  kind  of  transitory 
coma,  during  which  all  functions  except  those  of  vege- 
tative life  are  completely  suppressed. 

The  more  profound  this  functional  annihilation,  the 
more  remarkable  are  the  metapsychic  manifestations. 
The  more  complete  the  exteriorisation  and  its  separation 
from  the  organism,  the  more  complex  and  advanced  are 
the  phenomena. 

As  to  vision  at  a  distance  and  telepathy,  the  most 
remarkable  cases  are  those  that  go  furthest,  and  in  the 
most  incredible  degree,  beyond  the  range  of"  the  senses. 

As  to  ideoplastic  materialisation,  the  more  distinct, 
and  the  further  they  are  separated  from  the  medium, 
the  more  self-activity  and  apparent  autonomy  do  they 
show. 

In  fine,  as  I  have  set  forth  in  I'Etre  Suhconscient^  the 
classical  demonstration  in  favour  of  psycho-physiological 
parallelism  in  the  so-called  normal  function  of  the  person, 
turns  entirely  against  the  existence  of  any  such  parallelism 
in  the  so-called  supernormal  functions. 

This  negative  demonstration  may  be  summed  up  in 
a  triple  formula. 

134 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

1.  No  correlation  between  anatomic  physiology  and 

metapsychic  manifestations. 

2.  Metapsychic  activity  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  to 

functional  activity. 

3.  Metapsychic  activity  (sensorial,  dynamic,  motor, 

intellectual,  or  ideoplastic)   is   separable   from 

the  organism. 
It  may  be  affirmed  without  reserve,  that  everything 
happens  as  if  there  were  no  psycho-physiological  parallel- 
ism for  the  supernormal  subconsciousness. 


9. THE    SUBCONSCIOUS   OUTRANGES   THE    ORGANISM    AND 

CONDITIONS    IT 

The  subconscious  carries  internal  proof  of  this 
truth.  Not  only  do  its  manifestations,  in  fact,  transcend 
all  dynamic  and  material  contingencies,  but  it  also 
conditions  them. 

We  have  seen  this  in  psychology,  for  the  conscious 
psychism  is  but  the  smaller  part  of  the  whole,  and  is 
actually  conditioned  by  that  subconscious  psychism 
which  is  the  very  foundation  of  the  thinking  being  and 
his  essential  characteristic. 

This  is  still  more  evident  in  physiology.  It  has 
already  been  demonstrated  that  the  organic  substance 
is  resolvable  into  a  superior  dynamism,  which  has  its 
directive  Idea  in  the  subconscious.  The  subconscious 
directive  Idea  shows  itself  even  able,  in  supernormal 
states,  temporarily  to  disintegrate  organic  substance  and 
to  reorganise  it  in  new  representations.  It  is  therefore 
certain  that  the  organism,  far  from  being  generative 
of  the  Idea,  as  the  materialist  theory  teaches,  is,  on  the 
contrary,  conditioned  by  the  Idea.  The  organism 
appears  as  only  an  ideoplastic  product  of  that  which  is 
essential  in  the  being,  that  is,  of  its  subconscious  psychism. 

But  even  this  is  not  all. 

135 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  subconsciousness,  which  contains  within  itself 
the  directive  and  centralising  capacities  of  the  Self  in 
all  its  representations,  has  also  the  power  to  rise  above 
even  these  representations. 

The  faculties  of  telepathy,  of  mento-mental  action, 
or  lucidity,  are  faculties  which  transcend  representation 
because  they  transcend  the  dynamic  or  material  con- 
ditions which  rule  representation. 

In  intuition,  genius,  and  lucidity,  the  subconscious 
stands  above  the  category  of  representation,  that  is,  of 
time  and  space. 

Thus  the  thesis  which  Carl  du  Prel  maintained  in 
works  that  are  admirable  in  intuition ;  which  Myers  based 
on  solid  documentary  proofs;  which  we  have  advanced 
on  reasoning  which  has  not  been  refuted,  is  now  offered 
in  its  fullness  to  all  thinkers  and  men  of  science  who 
will  examine  it  in  good  faith. 

It  may  be  affirmed  without  reserve  that  there  is  in 
the  living  being  a  dynamo-psychism  constituting  the 
essence  of  the  Self,  which  absolutely  cannot  be  referred 
to  the  functioning  of  the  nervous  centres.  This  essential 
dynamo-psychism  is  not  conditioned  by  the  organism; 
on  the  contrary  everything  happens  as  though  the 
organism  and  the  cerebral  functions  were  conditioned 
by  it. 


lO. CONCLUSIONS    FROM    THE    SYNTHETIC     EXAMINATION 

OF    PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGY 

Such  are  the  first  essential  conclusions  of  an  inclusive 
psycho-physiology,  based  on  all  the  facts,  but  more 
especially  on  the  higher  and  more  complex  facts, 
enforced  by  the  deeper  study  of  the  subconscious,  yet 
easily  adaptable,  as  we  shall  show  further  on,  to  the 
simplest  facts,  upon  which  it  throws  full  light. 

Science  thus  offers  materials  of  high  quality,  which 

136 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

if  collated,  co-ordinated,  and  classified,  will  suffice  to 
replace  the  indescribable  chaos  of  classical  psycho- 
physiology  by  a  harmonious  edifice  upheld  on  two 
pillars. 

These  are,  first  the  notion  of  a  superior  dynamism 
conditioning  the  organic  complex;  and  second,  the 
notion  of  a  superior  psychism  independent  of  cerebral 
contingencies,  and  co-ordinating  the  multiple  states  of 
consciousness. 

But  before  entering  upon  the  work  of  synthesis,  it 
is  necessary  to  investigate  what  is  offered  to  us  by 
known  systems  of  philosophy. 


PART  III 
PHILOSOPHICAL  THEORIES  OF  EVOLUTION 


FOREWORD 

THE    SCIENTIFIC    FOUNDATIONS    OF    EVOLUTIONARY 
PHILOSOPHIES 

The  philosophies  that  are  founded  on  known  facts 
bearing  on  general  and  individual  evolution,  reach 
widely  different  conclusions  according  as  they  recognise 
a  larger  or  smaller  number  of  these  facts,  and  go  more  or 
less  beyond  them. 

And  as  the  physical  sciences  steadily  progress, 
philosophy  has  to  adapt  itself  to  new  discoveries,  and 
must  therefore  undergo  successive  modifications,  which 
are  sometimes  very  radical. 

The  general  questions  raised  by  evolution  can  be 
reduced  to  three: — 

Is  there  an  evolution  ? 

What  is  it  that  evolves  ?  • 

How,  and  why,  does  evolution  act  ? 

Is  there  an  evolution  ?  This  question  can  be  con- 
sidered as  scientifically  disposed  of.  Yes,  there  is,  an 
uninterrupted  progress  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 

What  is  it  that  evolves  ? 

This  question  is  vastly  more  complicated  and 
difficult.  Present  scientific  notions  tend  to  establish  the 
unity  of  substance.  They  tend  moreover  to  analyse  this 
single  substance  into  atoms.  They  tend,  to-day,  to 
view  the  atom,  not  as  (strictly  speaking)  material,  but 
as  a  centre  of  force. 

'Matter,'  writes  M.  Gustave  le  Bon,*  *has 
passed  through  widely  differing  phases.  The  first 
carries  us  back  to  the  very  beginning  of  the  universe 

*  M.  Gustave  le  Bon  :  L' Evolution  de  la  Matiire. 
141 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  is  beyond  the  reach  of  experiment.  It  is  the 
period  of  chaos  of  ancient  legend.  That  from  which 
the  universe  was  to  develop  was  but  formless  clouds 
of  ether. 

'  Directed  and  condensed  by  unknown  forces 
acting  for  unknown  ages,  the  ether  finally  organised 
itself  into  atomic  forms.  Matter,  as  it  exists  on 
our  earth,  or  as  we  can  observe  it  in  celestial  bodies 
at  different  evolutionary  stages,  is  an  aggregation 
of  these  atoms. 

*  During  this  period  of  progressive  formation 
the  atoms  stored  up  the  energy  which,  under  the 
modes  of  electricit}'-,  heat,  etc.  .  .  .  they  gradually 
expend  as  time  goes  on. 

'  In  thus  slowly  losing  their  accumulated  energy, 
they  underwent  diverse  evolutionary  change,  and 
have  put  on  diverse  aspects. 

*  When  they  have  radiated  all  their  energy  under 
the  forms  of  luminous,  calorific,  or  other  vibrations, 
they  must  return,  by  the  very  fact  of  this  radiation, 
to  the  dissociated  state — to  the  primitive  ether  whence 
they  were  derived.  This,  therefore,  represents  the 
final  nirvana  to  which  all  things  must  return  after 
a  more  or  less  ephemeral  existence. 

*  These  summary  glances  over  the  origin  of  our 
universe  and  its  end  are  obviously  but  feeble  lights 
thrown  on  the  darkness  which  enshrouds  our  past 
and  veils  our  future.  They  are  very  insufficient 
explanations.  Science  can  put  forward  no  other, 
and  cannot  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  true  first  reason 
of  things,  nor  even  reach  the  real  cause  of  any  single 
phenomenon.  It  must  leave  to  philosophy  and 
religion  the  task  of  imagining  systems  which  can 
satisfy  our  need  to  know.' 

We  shall  endeavour,  in  the  course  of  this  work,  to 
show  that  our  actual  knowledge  allows  us  to  go  much 

142 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

further  than  M.  le  Bon  thinks,  in  seeking  the  meaning 
of  evolution. 

Let  us  first  analyse  the  systems  as  yet  proposed  in 
answer  to  the  third  question:  How,  and  why,  does 
evolution  act  ? 

Philosophical  theories  of  evolution  may,  strictly 
speaking,  be  reduced  to  two — the  Deistic  or  Providential, 
and  the  Pantheistic. 

Pantheistic  metaphysics  are  infinitely  complex,  since 
they  include  all  systems  which  locate  beginning  and 
end  in  the  universe  itself.  These  systems,  both  in  their 
development  and  in  their  conclusions,  are  widely  different 
one  from  another,  and  cannot  be  blended  into  a  single 
study. 

We  could  not,  within  the  limits  of  this  work,  review 
them  all.  We  are  constrained  to  make  a  choice,  and 
that  choice  is  naturally  determined  by  the  end  at  which 
we  aim.     We  shall  therefore  only  consider: — 

1 .  The  philosophy  of  Providential  evolution  accord- 

ing to  dogma. 

2.  Contemporary  pantheistic  or  monistic  theories. 

3.  M.  Bergson's  theory  of  '  Creative  Evolution.' 

4.  The  philosophy  of  the  unconscious,  according  to 

Schopenhauer  and  von  Hartmann. 


CHAPTER  I 

EVOLUTION    UNDER    PROVIDENCE 

I. TENTATIVE    RECONCILIATIONS    OF    EVOLUTIONARY    AND 

DOGMATIC    IDEAS 

After  having  struggled  long  and  desperately  against 
the  evolutionary  idea,  some  partisans  of  theological  and 
dogmatic  philosophy,  have  come,  little  by  little,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  to  admit  it.  They  are  aware,  in  fact,  that 
the  dogma  of  creation  is  not  more  satisfying  than 
materialist  teaching. 

As  Vogel  very  well  says,* — 

*  From  a  strictly  rational  point  of  view  it  comes 
to  much  the  same  to  proclaim  that  man  is  the  result 
of  chance,  or  to  affirm  that  his  creation  is  due  to 
the  arbitrary  act  of  a  personal  God.  From  the 
moral  point  of  view,  that  a  human  being,  after  a  life 
determined  by  chance,  and  without  any  sanction  for 
his  acts,  should  cease  to  be,  is  equivalent  to  his 
judgment  by  absolute  and  eternal  decree  on  the 
basis  of  material  acts  of  infinitesimally  small  import 
and  duration  proceeding  from  an  equally  limited 
freedom  of  action.  But  this  equipoise  of  proba- 
bilities and  absurdities  which  the  materialist  schools 
and  the  Western  religions  bring  to  the  solution  of 
the  cosmic  problem  vanishes  before  the  evolutionary 
theorv.* 

According  to  religious  believers  who  have  accepted 
evolutionism,  the  universe  has  evolved  by  the  will  and 
under  the  guidance  of  a  supremely  powerful,  supremely 

*  Vogel:    La  Religion  de  V  t.voluiionnisme  (Fischlin,  Brussels). 

144 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

just,  and  supremely  good  Providence.  Transformism 
is  said  to  be  in  no  way  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  a 
Divine  plan  and  with  traditional  teaching  disencumbered 
of  puerile  and  obsolete  dogmatic  impedimenta. 

Far  from  being  contrary  to  the  providential  idea, 
they  say,  the  evolutionary  formula  would  remove  the 
grave  objections  arising  from  the  imperfections  of  the 
universe.  These  imperfections,  too  marked  to  be  recon- 
cilable with  the  notion  of  a  responsible  Providence  and 
a  definitive  creation,  are,  on  the  contrary,  easily  compre- 
hensible in  a  world  in  process  of  evolution.  They  would 
then  appear  only  as  necessities  inherent  in  an  inferior 
state,  and  even  as  the  measure  of  the  inferiority  of  that 
state  at  the  moment.* 

It  is  not  without  some  hesitation  that  I  discuss  the 
cogency  of  this  reasoning.*  Such  discussions  must  seem 
useless  and  wearisome  alike  to  partisans  and  opponents 
of  the  idea  of  Providence,  for  all  that  can  be  said  on  this 
subject  has  already  been  said;  also  the  question  is  one 
of  those  that  go  with  unshakable  convictions  or  beliefs. 

But  as  soon  as  men  claim  to  substitute  logical  argu- 
ments for  an  ancient  act  of  faith  apart  from  any  criterion, 
it  is  necessary  to  follow  them  into  the  domain  of  facts, 
and  to  set  forth  once  more  the  objections  which  inevitably 
rise  up  against  their  thesis. 

These  objections  can  be  reduced  to  two  leading 
ones : — 

{a)  That  based  on  the  evidence  of  gropings  and 
errors  in  evolution. 

(J?)  That  based  on  the  prevalence  of  evil  in  the 
universe. 

^  See  the  curious  collection  of  Conferences  of  the  Rev.  F.  Zahn,  trans- 
lated under  the  title,  L' Evolution  et  le  Dogme,  by  the  Abb6  Flageolet, 
published  by  Lethellieux,   lo  rue  Cassette,  Paris. 

*  This  chapter  must  on  no  account  be  considered  apart  from  the  rest. 
Those  which  precede  it  and  those  which  follow,  prove  that  there  is  no 
need  to  have  recourse  to  the  providential  idea  in  order  to  recognise  an 
ideal  harmony  in  the  universe.  We  shall  endeavour  to  demonstrate 
that  evolution  tends  towards  the  reaUsation  of  sovereign  consciousness, 
sovereign  justice,  and  sovereign  good. 

MS 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


2. ^THE    OBJECTION     BASED    ON    THE    EVIDENT    GROPINGS 

AND    ERRORS    IN    EVOLUTION 

An  evolution  proceeding  on  a  Divine  plan  or 
constantly  governed  by  a  sovereign  and  perfect  Provi- 
dence, cannot  involve  gropings  or  errors.  But  these 
gropings  and  errors  are  innumerable.  They  are  not 
the  exception,  they  seem  almost  the  rule. 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  species  have  disappeared 
in  the  course  of  the  ages.  In  these  evolutionary  forms 
there  has  been  what  looks  like  reckless  squandering  of 
vital  force  and  energy. 

Everything  in  evolution  shows  a  creative  force  that 
is  not  sure  of  itself;  which  produces  to  excess  in  order 
to  reach  concrete  results  in  selected  forms. 

These  gropings  are  very  clear  in  the  lower  phases  of 
evolution.  Germs  of  species,  as  of  individuals,  are 
produced  by  thousands  ;  a  small  number  only  succeed 
in  growing  at  all;  among  these  privileged  ones  only  a 
few  reach  the  adult  state. 

How  can  we  attribute  to  a  divine  plan  a  wastage 
which  appears  useless  and  inexplicable  } 

Everything  happens,  in  fact,  as  if  there  were  no 
appreciable  plan.  De  Vries  has  shown  that  among 
vegetable  species  mutations  arise  quite  independently 
of  the  vital  factors;  suddenly,  anarchically,  and  in 
different  directions,  without  reference  to  the  utility  of 
this  or  that  new  character.  Selection  then  operates. 
The  classical  factors  come  into  play  to  repress  or  to 
develop  the  characters  that  have  appeared,  causing  the 
survival  or  the  disappearance  of  the  new  species.  But 
the  interior  creative  impulse,  in  plants  and  no  doubt 
in  inferior  animals  also,  is  a  blind  impulse,  a  kind  of 
incoherent  and  disorderly  explosion. 

In  the  higher  animals,  even  if  the  impulse  is  less 
blind,  if  it  corresponds  with  a  need,  or  with  something 

146 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

resembling  an  obscure  aspiration  towards  higher  forms, 
it  nevertheless  still  shows  gropings  and  errors. 

In  the  history  of  the  reptiles  of  the  Secondary  epoch 
how  can  we  fail  to  see  a  groping  after  the  higher  evolu- 
tionary series  of  mammals  ?  Is  the  whole  of  evolution 
anything  but  a  series  of  such  gropings  ? 

These  gropings  and  errors  are  found  in  details  as 
well  as  in  the  mass;  useless  organic  characters  which 
do  not  fit  into  any  plan  are  in  no  way  exceptional. 

Delage  and  Goldsmith  cite  many  instances. 

*  The  diverse  colouration  of  the  wings  of  insects, 
of  the  shells  of  molluscs,  characteristics  which,  to 
follow  the  expression  of  Eimer,  are  no  more  useful 
to  them  than  the  brilliant  colour  of  gold  to  that 
metal,  or  its  iridescent  tints  to  the  soap  bubble.  The 
exaggerated  dimensions  of  the  antlers  of  the  fossil 
Irisk  elk;  the  curved  and  practically  unusable  tusks 
of  the  mammoth;  the  extraordinarily  developed 
fangs  of  the  modern  babiroussa;  the  eyes  of  certain 
crustaceans  placed  at  the  end  of  over-long  pedicles  } 
etc.  ...  It  would  seem  as  if  the  development  once 
begun  is  carried  on  by  a  kind  of  inertia.* 

There  are  even  organs  which  are  not  only  useless, 
but  even  injurious,  such  as  the  appendix  in  man. 

Instincts  also  sometimes  go  astray;  deceived  by  their 
instincts  some  game-birds,  such  as  woodcock,  always 
return  to  the  same  places,  where  they  meet  their  death; 
migratory  fish  are  unable  to  avoid  certain  dangerous 
zones  where  they  perish  by  thousands;   etc. 

3.— OBJECTIONS    BASED    ON    EVIL    IN    THE    UNIVERSE 

If  the  existence  of  errors  and  gropings  is  hardly 
compatible  with  a  Divine  plan,  there  is  another  considera- 
tion even  less  so.  It  is  the  prevalence  of  evil  in  the 
universe. 

147 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

In  fact  we  find  evil  everywhere.  It  seems  that  the 
extinction  of  the  feeble  dominates  human  and  animal  life. 
Earth,  air,  and  water  are  just  immense  and  incessant 
fields  of  war,  compared  to  which  the  battles  of  Man  seem 
slight  and  intermittent. 

The  most  beautiful  birds,  and  the  most  delicate 
insects  are  very  often  more  ferocious  than  the  large 
carnivora. 

Why  should  there  be  this  instinct  of  refined  ferocity 
in  the  insect,  even  though  it  be  devoid  of  thought  or 
responsibility  } 

There  is  no  unavoidable  necessity  that  animals  should 
devour  one  another,  since  certain  of  the  more  powerful 
among  them  are  entirely  vegetable  feeders. 

Why  so  much  sickness,  epidemics,  and  so  many 
cosmic  catastrophes  }  Why,  always  and  everywhere, 
so  much  suffering  and  evil  } 

The  prevalence  of  evil  is  really  the  most  serious 
objection  that  can  be  raised  against  the  idea  of  creation 
by  an  all-wise  and  all-good  Providence.  The  old  irre- 
futable argument  inevitably  recurs  to  the  mind:  If 
there  is  a  Creator,  that  Creator  must  have  been  wanting 
either  in  the  knowledge,  or  in  the  will,  or  in  the  power, 
to  prevent  evil ;  therefore  that  Creator  cannot  be  at  once 
supremely  wise,  or  supremely  good,  or  supremely 
powerful. 

The  strength  of  this  argument  is  manifest  by  the 
futility  of  the  refutations  which  have  been  attempted. 

It  has  been  said  that  if  there  were  no  evil,  the  creature 
would  be  the  equal  of  the  Creator.  This  sophism  cannot 
hold.  Unless  it  were  the  work  of  a  Demiurgus  of  but 
moderate  power,  and  not  of  a  true  Providence,  creation 
could  not  be  based  on  universal  suffering.  It  should 
involve  the  minimum,  not  the  maximum  of  suffering. 
It  has  also  been  said  that  evil  is  the  consequence  of  the 
liberty  given  by  God  to  his  creatures.  But  it  is  evident 
that    great    epidemics,    most    infirmities    and    diseases, 

148 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

great  cosmic  catastrophes,  etc.  .  .  .  have  nothing  to  do 
with  human  liberty. 

Finally,  *  original  sin  '  has  been  alleged.  This  dogma 
does  not  absolve  Providence  from  responsibility.  Guyau 
has  put  this  in  a  masterly  way  in  his  Irreligion  de 
VAvenir\ — 

*  The  great  resource  of  Christianity  and  of  most 
religions  is  the  idea  of  a  Fall.  But  this  explanation 
of  evil  by  a  primitive  failure  comes  to  explaining 
evil  by  itself;  necessarily  there  must,  before  the 
fall,  have  been  some  defect  in  the  supposed  freedom 
of  the  will  or  in  the  circumstances  which  caused  it 
to  weaken;  no  fault  is  really  primal.  A  man  who 
is  perfect  and  walks  under  God's  eye  does  not  fall 
when  there  are  no  stones  on  the  road.  There  can 
be  no  sin  without  temptation,  and  thus  we  come  back 
to  the  idea  that  God  was  the  first  tempter;  it  is 
God  himself  who  fails  morally  in  a  failure  which  He 
Himself  has  willed.  To  explain  the  primal  fall — 
the  source  of  all  others — the  sin  of  Lucifer,  theolo- 
gians have  imagined  a  sin  of  the  intelligence  instead 
of  a  sin  of  the  flesh ;  it  is  by  pride  that  the  angels 
fell  from  their  first  estate,  and  that  sin  arises  in  the 
deepest  element  of  being.  But  Pride,  that  sin  of 
the  mind,  arises  in  fact  from  short-sightedness;  the 
highest  and  most  complete  knowledge  is  that  which 
best  knows  its  own  limitations.  Pride,  therefore, 
involves  to  restricted  knowledge,  and  the  pride  of 
angels  can  only  proceed  from  God.  Evil  is  desired 
and  wrought  only  because  of  reasons  for  it,  but 
there  are  no  reasons  against  reason  itself.  If, 
according  to  the  apologists  of  Free  Will,  human 
intelligence  by  its  interior  pride  and  perversity  can 
create  and  arouse  motives  for  ill-doing,  it  can  at 
least  only  do  that  when  its  knowledge  is  limited, 
doubtful,  and  uncertain.     There  is  hesitation  only 

149  M 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

in  matters  concerning  which  there  is  no  complete 
evidence  to  the  understanding— one  cannot  err  in 
the  light  and  against  the  light.  A  Lucifer  was 
therefore  by  his  very  nature  impeccable.  In  a  hypo- 
thetically  perfect  world  the  desire  of  evil  could  arise 
only  from  the  opposition  which  an  imperfect  intelli- 
gence would  mistakenly  think  existed  between  his 
own  good  and  the  general  good.  But  if  God  and 
his  work  had  been  really  perfect,  the  opposition 
between  personal  and  general  good  would  have  been 
impossible.  Even  to  the  best  human  minds  this 
opposition  appears  merely  temporary  and  provisional ; 
much  more  would  it  seem  so  to  the  archangel  of 
Intelligence  itself — the  Light-bearer  of  thought. 
To  know,  is  to  participate  in  a  measure  in  the  supreme 
Truth — the  Divine  Consciousness — to  have  all  know- 
ledge would  be  to  be  able  to  reflect  the  very  conscious- 
ness of  God :  how  could  a  Satanic  mentality  emanate 
from  the  all-divine  }  * 

Moreover,  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  is  only  applicable 
to  Humanity.  Disciples  of  Descartes  have  grasped  this 
argument  so  thoroughly  that  they  have  put  the  objection 
aside  by  declaring  that  animals  are  automata. 

*  If  animals  could  think,*  they  said,  *  they  would 
have  a  soul.  If  this  soul  is  mortal,  that  of  man  may 
easily  be  so.  If  it  is  immortal,  it  is  impossible  to 
understand  how  or  why  the  animals  should  suffer. 
Have  the  beasts  also  eaten  forbidden  fruit  ?  Do 
they  also  await  a  Redeemer  ?  * 

In  these  days  when  the  existence  of  an  *  animal 
soul  '  is  no  longer  doubted,  the  Cartesian  argument 
necessarily  turns  against  the  existence  of  any  divine 
plan.  As  a  last  resource  the  dogmatists  are  reduced  to 
deny  man's  capacity  to  understand  the  Divine  plan, 

150 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Doubtless  human  judgment  is  still  very  weak,  but 
to  deny  it  the  right  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the 
painful  conditions  of  earthly  life  is  to  disparage  it  unduly. 
That  judgment  has  been  given  as  follows. 

Evolution  cannot  be  the  work  of  a  supremely  wise, 
just,  good,  and  powerful  divinity,  whether  that  divinity 
had  laid  down  its  smallest  details  in  advance,  or  would 
intervene  from  time  to  time  to  correct  errors. 

Endeavours  have,  however,  been  made  to  reconcile 
the  idea  of  Providence  with  the  facts.  It  has  been  said 
that  gropings  and  errors  might  be  comprehensible  after 
the  following  manner:  Providence,  in  creating  the 
primitive  universe,  with  a  progressive  impulse  and  all 
potentialities  contained  within  it,  would  have  set  bounds 
to  Itself.  The  impulse  once  given  would  proceed  auto- 
matically, and  its  objectifications  would  develop  freely, 
outside  any  pre-established  plan,  and  without  intervention 
on  the  part  of  Providence. 

This  is  more  or  less  what  is  expressed  by  the  Rev. 
F.  Zahn  in  his  book.  Evolution  and  Dogma, 

*  For  the  old  school  of  natural  theology  God 
is  the  direct  cause  of  all  that  exists.  For  the  evolu- 
tionist He  is  the  cause  of  causes — causa  causarum 
— of  the  world  and  all  that  it  contains.  The  old 
theories  were  that  God  created  everything  directly 
in  the  state  in  which  it  at  present  exists.  According 
to  Evolution,  creation,  or  rather  the  development  of 
living  creatures,  has  been  a  slow  and  gradual  process 
needing  vast  periods  of  time  to  transform  the  chaos 
into  a  cosmos,  and  to  give  to  the  visible  universe 
the  beauty  and  the  harmony  which  it  now  shows. 
.  .  .  This  is  the  true  meaning  of  Evolution ;  and  so 
understood,  Evolution,  to  borrow  Temple's  expres- 
sion,^ "  teaches  us  that  the  execution  of  the  Divine 
plan    derives    more    from    the    primordial    act    of 

*  Temple  :   Relations  between  Religion  and  Science. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

creation,  and  less  from  the  ulterior  acts  of  providential 
governance;  there  is  thus,  on  the  one  hand,  more 
of  God's  foresight,  and  on  the  other  fewer  interven- 
tions; and  what  is  taken  from  the  latter,  is  added 
to  the  former.* 

On  this  theory  the  responsibility  of  the  Creator  for 
evil  is  diminished  but  not  abolished,  for  it  cannot  be 
admitted  that  God  in  His  omniscience  would  not  have 
foreseen  the  future  predominance  of  evil. 

Deists  are  then  led  to  the  conclusion  that  evolution 
could  not  have  been  directed  differently  because  evil  is 
the  condition  under  which  evolution  acts,  containing 
in  itself  the  germ  of  future  good. 

This  involves  a  curious  restriction  of  Divine  omnipo- 
tence, although,  by  definition  it  cannot  be  conditioned 
by  anything. 

Further,  it  is  by  no  means  demonstrated  that  evil 
is  an  indispensable  factor  in  evolution.  Many  con- 
temporary naturalists  think  differently,  basing  their 
conclusion  on  the  impartial  examination  of  facts,  and 
not  on  preconceived  ideas. 

What  do  these  facts  prove  }  That  new  variations 
appear  and  prosper  most  readily  where  the  surrounding 
conditions  demand  the  least  effort  to  survive. 

Kropotkine,  studying  the  Siberian  regions,  remarks 
that  life  there  is  scanty,  and  that  periods  of  hard  climatic 
conditions  are  followed,  not  by  progressive  evolution 
but  by  regression  in  all  directions. 

The  Russian  botanist  Korschinsky^  reaches  similar' 
conclusions.  New  forms  do  not  appear  under  adverse 
conditions  of  life,  or,  if  they  do  appear,  they  immediately 
perish.  Variation  is  most  frequent  when  the  environ- 
ment is  favourable,  and  inclement  conditions,  far  from 
favouring    evolution,    slow    it    down     by    restraining 

*  Korschinsky  ^   Hiterogenise  et  Evolution,  Contribution  4  la  Th6orie 
de  rOrigine  des  Esp^ces  (Mem.  Acad.  Petrograd,  ix.  1899). 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

variation  and  eliminating  new  forms  which  have 
begun  to  develop. 

Another  botanist,  Luther  Burbank,*  a  grower  in 
California,  after  much  research,  concludes  that  a  rich 
soil  and  generally  favourable  conditions  encourage 
frequent  variations  and  assist  them,  while  rigorous 
conditions  of  life  arrest  variation  and  bring  about  general 
regression. 

For  humanity,  as  for  the  lower  forms  of  life,  years 
of  famine,  of  epidemics,  and  of  war,  give  rise  to  an 
enfeebled  and  inferior  generation. 

Two  things  therefore  are  certain:  {a)  evil,  when 
too  pronounced,  does  not  favour  evolution,  but  impedes 
it.  It  is  no  longer  a  spur,  but  a  curb;  and  (B) 
evil  is  not  an  indispensable  condition  of  evolution,  since 
life  is  more  abundant  and  varied  in  regions  which  are 
favoured  by  conditions  of  climate,  food,  and  well- 
being. 

Another  decisive  consideration  is,  that  since  adap- 
tation and  the  struggle  for  life  are  secondary  factors,  and 
since  evolution  can  be  conceived  to  take  place  without 
them,  it  is  clear  that  evil  can  no  longer  be  considered 
as  the  sine  qua  non  of  evolution. 

It  is  plausible  that  evil  should  be  inevitable  in  the 
lower  phases  of  evolution,  and  should  then  appear  as 
the  measure  of  their  inferiority;  but  it  cannot  be  so 
considered  in  all  cases,  unless  we  imagine  the  worlds 
evolving  under  a  primitive  impulse  which  is  both  blind 
and  unconscious.  This  will  not  fit  with  any  hypothesis 
of  a  divine  plan. 

No  arguments,  however  subtle,  can  hold  against 
this  evidence :  *  a  Creator  is  a  Being  in  whom  all  things 
have  their  reason  and  their  cause,  and  consequently 
supreme  and  final  responsibility  vests  in  Him.  He  thus 
bears  the  weight  of  all  that  there  is  of  evil  in  the  universe. 
In  the  degree  that  the  ideas  of  infinite  power  and  supreme 
'Delage  et  Goldsmith  :  Les  Theories  de  I' Evolution. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

liberty  are  inseparable  from  our  ideas  of  God,  He  loses 
all  excuse,  for  the  Absolute  depends  on  nothing,  and 
has  no  joint  liability  with  anything;  on  the  contrary, 
everything  depends  on  Him  and  has  its  reason  in  Him. 
Therefore  all  culpability  carries  back  to  Him;  His 
work,  by  reason  of  the  interdependence  of  its  effects, 
no  longer  appears  to  modern  thought  as  anything  but 
a  single  act;  and  that  act  is  amenable  to  moral 
judgment,  and  by  the  same  right  we  judge  any  other 
act  it  is  permissible  to  judge  its  author;  the  condition 
of  the  world  itself  is  for  us  the  verdict  on  God.  And 
as,  with  the  increase  in  moral  perception,  the  evil  and 
immoral  tendencies  in  the  universe  shock  our  sensibilities 
more  and  more,  it  seems  more  and  more  clear  that  to 
affirm  a  *  Creator  *  of  the  world,  is,  so  to  speak,  to  bring 
all  evil  to  a  focus  in  Him,  to  centralise  all  this  immorality 
in  one  being,  and  to  justify  the  paradox  that  *  Evil  is 
God.*  To  affirm  a  Creator  is,  in  fact  to  transfer  evil 
from  the  world  to  God  as  its  primary  source;  it  is  to 
absolve  Man  and  the  universe,  and  to  lay  the  onus  on 
its  author  who  in  freedom  of  action  created  it.*  ^ 


4. NEO-MANICHEISM 

A  last  resource  remains  in  order  to  absolve  not  only 
man  and  the  universe,  but  God  also  from  responsibility: 
it  is  to  refuse  to  see  in  God  an  untrammeled  Creator,  and 
to  attribute  the  creation  of  the  world  to  a  demigod  or  an 
evil  daemon;  to  see  in  the  universe  *  a  dual  principle, 
good  and  evil  struggling  on  an  equality  and  victorious 
by  turns.* 

However  complicated,  absurd,  and  foolish,  the 
Manichean  concept  may  appear  to  the  philosophic  mind, 
it  is  not  dead.  It  would  seem  to  be  still  current  in  the 
mystical  sects  which  have  inherited  mediaeval  teaching. 

*  Guyau  :    L'Irreligion  de  I'Avenir. 


¥rom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  echo  of  these  old  traditions  is  heard  elsewhere.  It 
is  not  without  profound  surprise  that  we  find  Manichean 
ideas  in  minds  imbued  with  Christian  tradition.  Flournoy* 
who  has  not  hesitated  to  put  forward  such  ideas, 
endeavours  to  avoid  the  inevitable  objections  to  them 
by  a  subterfuge: — 

*  If  God  exists  He  has  been  from  the  beginning 
in  conflict  with  some  independent  Principle  whence 
Evil  is  derived.  He  is  therefore  not  the  Absolute, 
the  All-powerful,  the  omnipotent  Creator  of  this 
universe,  and  we  revert  inevitably  to  the  ancient 
Manichean  doctrine.  I  admit  that  I  am  not  enough 
of  a  theologian  or  of  a  philosopher  to  clear  up  the 
mystery!  But  this,  perhaps,  would  not  be  the  first 
time  that  a  heresy  condemned  by  the  Councils  might 
be  found  to  have  reason  on  its  side,  and  to  be  more 
conformable  to  the  thought  of  Christ  than  received 
tradition.  However  that  may  be,  the  notion  of  a 
God,  limited,  no  doubt,  but  entirely  good,  cease- 
lessly working  to  bring  the  greatest  possible  good 
out  of  evils  which  He  has  not  created,  and  striving 
to  establish  His  reign  of  Love  in  primeval  chaos 
(which  would  be  the  cause  and  the  last  word  on 
evolution);  and  this  notion,  I  say,  which  seems  to 
me  to  be  the  inference  from  the  whole  life  of  Jesus, 
appears  infinitely  more  generous  than  the  current 
concept  of  a  vindictive  God  awarding  death,  visiting 
the  sins  of  the  fathers  on  the  children,  and  heaping 
on  His  creatures  (and  by  choice  on  the  best  of 
them)  trials  for  which  it  is  their  duty  to  thank  Him !  * 

Is  there  any  need  to  discuss  Manicheism  or 
neo-Manicheism  any  further  ?  Evidently  not.  It  is 
sufficient  to  point  out  that  both  are  ineffectual  and 
complicated,  and  therefore  contrary  to  all  scientific  or 
philosophical  method. 

*  Flournoy  :  Le  Ginie  Religieux. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Manicheism  appears  only  as  a  striking  proof  of  the 
impossibility  of  reconciling  the  hypothesis  of  a  Provi- 
dential creation  with  the  problem  of  evil.  It  cannot 
meet  the  argument — that  the  hypothesis  of  a  First 
Cause  external  to  the  universe  is  a  useless  hypothesis. 

Since,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  we  must  always  come 
to  the  concept  of  a  First  Cause,  itself  uncaused,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  place  this  primal  cause  anywhere  else 
than  in  the  universe  itself. 

The  notion  of  creation  ex  nihilo  gives  no  solution  to 
the  inherent  difficulty  that  attends  the  search  for  a 
First  Cause.  It  only  reveals  that  difficulty  and  increases 
it  by  superadding  the  terrible  problem  of  evil. 


CHAPTER  II 

MONISM 

Monism,  which  is  an  adaptation  of  pantheism  to  the 
natural  sciences  and  to  the  evolutionist  hypothesis,  is 
a  very  attractive  theory.  On  the  one  hand  it  simplifies 
high  philosophy  conformably  to  scientific  principle  and 
method,  by  reducing  it  to  a  single  hypothesis;  and,  on 
the  other,  it  is  in  evident  agreement  with  the  evolutionary 
synthesis  as  a  whole,  as  applicable  to  the  universe  and 
the  individual. 

The  pantheistic  philosophy  presents  an  aspect  of 
undeniable  probability,  and  in  the  sequel  will  be  seen 
to  be  supported  by  the  new  psychological  concepts. 

Without  going  outside  the  natural  sciences  it  can 
be  stated  that  the  mechanical,  determinist,  and  teleo- 
logical  concepts  which  have  been  the  subject  of  endless 
philosophical  controversy  are  easily  reconciled  in  the 
pantheistic  synthesis;  while  apart  from  that  synthesis 
they  are  without  positive  foundation  and  remain  vain 
and  sterile  speculations.  Apart  from  the  pantheistic 
philosophy,  all  concepts  of  the  universe  which  claim  to 
be  scientific,  come  to  this: — 

That  *  the  evolution  of  the  universe  is  determined 
by  the  mechanical  addition  of  new  elements  to  the 
primitive  elements,  these  increments  giving  rise  to  a 
more  and  more  perfect  and  complex  whole.* 

Facts,  however,  are  against  this  hypothesis.  As 
M.  Bergson  remarks,  '  a  single  glance  at  the  develop- 
ment of  an  embryo  shows  that  life  does  proceed  by  the 
association  and  addition  of  new  elements,  but  by  the 
fission  and  dissociation  of  the  old.* 

157 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

And,  as  we  have  seen,  the  greater  cannot 
proceed  from  the  less  unless  potentially  contained 
in  it. 

Teleological  ideas,  unless  they  are  founded  in 
pantheistic  ideas  and  start  from  them,  necessarily  end 
in  the  commonplace  and  childish  theories,  so  easy  to 
turn  into  ridicule,  according  to  which  all  the  components 
of  the  universe  must  have  been  made  for  each  other. 
To  dismiss  this  idea  it  is  only  necessary  to  point  out, 
as  Russel  Wallace  does,  that  every  adaptation  necessarily 
presents  the  semblance  of  an  intentional  design. 

Starting  from  pantheism  on  the  other  hand,  both 
the  mechanical  means  and  the  teleological  end  are  of  a 
different  kind,  involving  as  they  do  a  single  meta- 
physical hypothesis.  They  imply  the  idea  that  our 
comprehension  of  Space  and  Time  is  relative  to  our 
understanding;  and  that  when  we  rise  above  these 
relative  ideas,  we  see,  and  ought  to  see,  neither  beginning 
nor  end,  neither  origin,  termination,  nor  arrival ;  neither 
past,  present,  nor  future,  but  simply  a  harmonious 
whole.  It  must  not  be  said  that  the  universe  has  been 
constructed  for  a  given  end  by  stated  means;  nor  that 
the  means  necessarily  determine  the  end. 

Mechanical  and  teleological  distinctions  are  vain. 
They  vanish  in  the  absolute.  As  Bergson  says,  we  thus 
come  to  *  a  metaphysical  system  in  which  the  totality 
of  things  is  placed  in  eternity,  and  in  which  their 
apparent  duration  expresses  merely  the  infirmity  of  a 
mind  which  cannot  know  everything  at  once.* 

This  is  what  Laplace  had  previously  expressed  in 
the  well-known  dictum  that  *  to  an  intelligence,  which, 
at  a  given  moment,  should  know  all  the  forces  which 
move  Nature  and  the  relative  situations  of  all  beings; 
and  if,  moreover,  that  intelligence  were  powerful  enough 
to  analyse  these  data,  it  would  comprise  under  the  same 
formula  the  movements  of  the  greatest  bodies  in  the 
universe  and  those  of  the  smallest  atom ;   nothing  would 

158 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

be  uncertain  to  its  view,  and  the  future,  like  the  past, 
would  be  present  to  its  eyes.* 

What  does  M.  Bergson  object  to  in  this  ?  That 
we  cannot  eliminate  Time:  *  Nothing  in  all  our  experi- 
ence is  more  unquestionable  than  Duration.  We 
perceive  duration  like  a  river  which  cannot  change  its 
flow.  It  is  the  foundation  of  our  being,  and,  as  we  are 
well  aware,  the  very  essence  of  things  with  which  we 
are  in  relation.' 

This  objection  is  certainly  insufficient:  if  Time  and 
Space  are  but  illusions  of  our  limited  understanding,  it 
is  obvious  that  these  illusions  may  be  imposed  on  our 
understanding  without  therefore  ceasing  to  be  illusions. 

It  seems,  then,  to  be  true  that  mechanical  or  teleo- 
logical  metaphysics  can  neither  be  demonstrated  nor 
refuted,  because  they  are  outside  our  modes  of  reasoning. 
Nevertheless  they  seem  to  receive  unexpected  support 
by  the  facts  of  prophetical  lucidity,  and  a  certain  number 
of  these  facts  are  well  established. 

But  even  admitting  the  abstract  and  metaphysical 
possibility,  this  theory  brings  no  concrete  addition  to 
the  doctrine  of  evolution.  Questions  of  transcendental 
ends  and  means  are  inseparable  from  consideration  of 
the  Absolute.  It  is  above  our  intelligence,  and  cannot 
be  discussed  to  any  profit.  We  must  be  content  to 
admit  the  necessity  for  a  single  evolutionary  principle 
containing  within  itself  all  evolutionary  possibilities, 
and  merely  endeavour  to  understand  how  these  possi- 
bilities come  into  realisation. 

Now  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  classical  naturalistic 
pantheism,  or  Monism,  does  not  aid  us  here. 

'  This  supreme  law  of  Nature,'  writes  Haeckel, 
*  being  laid  down,  and  all  other  laws  made  subord- 
inate  to   it,   we  have   convinced   ourselves    of   the 

»  Haeckel :    The  Riddle  of  the  Universe. 

I5<) 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

universal  unity  of  Nature,  and  of  the  eternal  validity 
of  natural  laws.  From  the  dark  problem  of  Matter 
there  issues  the  clear  law  of  Matter.  .  .  / 

In  these  words  he  only  enunciates  a  formula  which 
is  very  incomplete  if  not  actually  valueless. 

The  clear  law  of  matter  has  in  reality  nothing  clear 
about  it  except  its  affirmation  of  unity.  It  is  quite  dark 
as  to  all  that  concerns  the  essential  factors  and  meaning 
of  evolution. 


CHAPTER  III 

M.    BERGSON*S    *  CREATIVE    EVOLUTION  * 

I  HAVE  already,  on  several  occasions,  had  to  quote  M. 
Bergson.  It  is  now  desirable  to  undertake  a  methodical 
study  of  his  work  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  whether 
it  brings  us  nearer  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  evolution. 

Although  I  wish  to  consider  here  only  those  ideas 
of  M.  Bergson  which  deal  with  evolution,  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  avoid  some  references  to  his  general  philo- 
sophical system.  His  theory  of  Creative  Evolution  is, 
no  doubt,  his  masterpiece;  but  its  leading  idea  cannot 
be  grasped  apart  from  his  other  works. 

I  shall  therefore  endeavour  faithfully  to  reproduce 
the  main  outlines  of  his  system  without  taking  sides 
either  with  its  obstinate  detractors,  or  its  devout 
disciples. 


I. SUMMARY  OF  THE    BERGSONIAN   THEORY   OF 

EVOLUTION 

M.  Bergson  admits  transformism,  he  considers 
its  proof  sufficient  and  unquestionable.  But,  he  adds, 
even  if  they  were  not,  the  evolutionary  concept  could 
not  be  put  aside.  He  endeavours  to  demonstrate  this 
necessity  in  pages  which  are  certainly  the  most  powerful, 
the  most  profound,  and  the  most  noteworthy  of  any 
that  he  has  written. 

*  Let  us  suppose  that  transformism  were  con- 
victed of  error.  Let  us  suppose  that  by  inference 
or    experiment,    species    were    shown    to    arise    by 

i6i 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

a  discontinuous  process  of  which  we  at  present 
have  no  idea.  Would  this  invalidate  transformism 
in  its  most  interesting  parts — those  which  have 
most  importance  for  ourselves  ?  The  main  outlines 
of  classification  would  remain  unchanged,  there 
would  be  the  same  relations  between  comparative 
anatomy  and  comparative  embryology.  Thence- 
forward we  could,  and  should,  still  maintain  the 
same  relations — the  same  parentage — between  living 
forms  as  transformism  presents  to  us  to-day. 

*  These  relations  would,  no  doubt,  be  more 
of  a  parentage  of  idea  than  of  a  material  filiation. 
But  as  the  actual  data  of  palaeontology  would  remain, 
it  would  have  to  be  admitted  that  the  forms  between 
which  this  parentage  of  idea  subsists,  have  appeared 
successively  and  not  simultaneously.  Now  the 
philosophical  mind  asks  no  more  than  this  of  the 
evolutionary  theory.  It  is  the  function  of  that  theory 
to  verify  the  relations  of  parentage  in  idea,  and  to 
maintain  that  where  there  is  what  may  be  called 
a  logical  filiation  between  diverse  forms,  there  is 
also  a  chronological  sequence  between  the  species 
in  which  those  forms  appear.  This  double  proposi- 
tion would  remain,  whatever  causes  might  be  in 
operation.  And  thenceforward  it  would  still  be 
necessary  to  suppose  an  evolution  somewhere.  This 
might  be  in  creative  thought  in  which  the  ideas  of 
different  species  would  have  successively  engendered 
each  other,  just  as  transformism  maintains  the 
species  themselves  to  have  been  engendered  on  the 
earth.  Or  it  might  be  in  a  scheme  of  vital  organisa- 
tion immanent  in  Nature,  gradually  becoming  more 
distinct;  the  relationship  of  logical  and  chrono- 
logical filiation  between  abstract  forms  being  precisely 
those  which  transformism  presents  to  us  as  the 
relationship  of  real  filiation  between  living  creatures. 
Or  again,  the  same  sequence  would  be  seen  in  some 

162 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

unknown  cause  of  life  developing  its  effects  as  if 
one  did  actually  engender  another.  Evolution 
would  then  only  have  been  transposed.  It  would 
have  passed  from  the  visible  to  the  invisible.  Nearly 
everything  that  transformism  asserts  to-day  would 
remain  intact,  only  it  would  be  interpreted  in  a 
different  manner. 

*  Is  it  not  well  then  to  keep  to  the  letter  of 
transformism,  as  understood  almost  unanimously  by 
men  of  science  }  .  ,  .  For  this  reason  we  consider 
that  the  language  of  transformism  is  necessary  in 
all  philosophy,  as  its  positive  teaching  is  necessary 
in  science.' 

Evolution  being  definitely  established  with  all  the 
weight  of  sure  fact,  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  seek  to 
understand  how  it  is  effected.  For  M.  Bergson  evolution 
is  due  to  none  of  the  factors  to  which  it  is  ascribed  by 
naturalists;    these  are  all  secondary. 

*  We  in  no  way  dispute  that  adaptation  to 
environment  may  be  a  necessary  cause  of  evolution 
.  .  .  but  it  is  one  thing  to  acknowledge  that  external 
circumstances  are  forces  of  which  evolution  must 
take  account,  and  another  thing  to  maintain  that  they 
are  its  directing  forces.  .  .  .  The  truth  is  that 
adaptation  explains  the  minor  windings  of  evolu- 
tionary progress  but  not  the  general  direction  of  the 
movement,  still  less  the  movement  itself.  The  road 
which  leads  to  a  town  is  certainly  compelled  to  go 
up  hills  and  down  slopes,  it  adapts  itself  to  the 
ground,  but  the  accidents  of  the  ground  are  not 
the  causes  of  the  road,  nor  do  they  assign  its  general 
direction.' 

What,  then,  is  the  essential  factor  } 
This  essential  factor  is  a  kind  of  interior  impulse, 
an  original  and  undefined  '  vital  surge  '  (JIan  vital), 

163 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  vital  impulse  pertains  to  an  immanent  principle 
which  is  life,  intelligence,  and  matter.  It  transcends 
them  all,  in  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future.  It 
presupposes  them,  contains  them,  and  precreates  them, 
so  to  say,  in  proportion  as  they  come  into  realisation. 

This  immanent  principle,  however,  has  no  final 
completeness  in  itself;  it  comes  into  existence  progres- 
sively as  it  creates  the  evolving  universe.  It  constitutes 
what  M.  Bergson  calls  *  Duration.*  This  *  Duration  * 
is  not  very  easily  understood.  An  eminent  disciple  of 
M.  Bergson  describes  it  as  follows. 

*  It  is  a  melodious  evolution  of  moments  in 
which  each  has  the  resonance  of  the  preceding 
moment  and  foretells  that  which  will  succeed  it; 
it  is  an  amplification  which  never  stops,  and  a 
perpetual  origin  of  new  manifestations.  It  is  a 
Becoming,  indivisible,  qualitative,  organic,  beyond 
Space,  and  not  amenable  to  number.  .  .  ,  Imagine 
a  symphony  which  should  be  conscious  of  itself 
and  creative  of  itself:  it  is  after  this  manner  that 
Duration  is  best  understood.*  ^ 

It  is  duration,  with  its  vital  impulse,  which  is  the 
essential  cause  of  evolution,  and  not  Darwinian  or 
Lamarckian  adaptation. 

How  are  we  to  conceive  of  evolution  from  *  dura- 
tion }  *  Everything  happens  as  if  there  were  a  centre 
whence  worlds  are  thrown  off  like  fireworks  in  a  vast 
illumination. 

But  this  centre  is  not  a  concrete  thing;  it  is  *  a 
continuity  of  outflow.* 

This  centre  is  God;  but  *  God,  thus  defined,  has 
no  completed  existence:  He  is  ceaseless  life.  He  is 
action.  He  is  liberty.  Creation,  thus  conceived  of,  is 
no  mystery:  we  experience  it  in  ourselves  as  soon  as 
we  act  freely.* 

*  Le  Roy  :    Une  Philosophie  Nouvelle. 
164 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Therefore  there  is  no  pre-determined  finality;  no 
scheme  of  evolution  laid  down  in  advance;  there  are 
only  objectifications  which  involve  and  succeed  each 
other;  *  a  creation  which  proceeds  without  end  in  virtue 
of  an  initial  impulse.'  This  creation  brings  forth,  not 
only  the  forms  of  life,  but  the  ideas  which  allow  the 
intellect  to  understand  it,  and  the  terms  by  which  it  is 
expressed.  Its  future  goes  beyond  the  present  and 
cannot  be  described  by  any  existing  idea.* 

M.  le  Roy^  has  summed  up  as  clearly  as  may  be 
the  thought  of  M.  Bergson  on  the  creative  -processus 
and  on  the  concepts  of  spirit  and  matter  issuing  from 
that  processus. 

*  In  this  concept  of  Being,  consciousness  is  omni- 
present as  the  original  and  fundamental  reality, 
always  there  under  a  thousand  different  degrees  of 
intensity  or  of  sleep,  and  under  an  infinitely  diverse 
rhythm. 

*  The  vital  surge  consists  in  an  impulse  to  create. 
Life,  in  its  humblest  stages  is  a  spiritual  activity; 
and  its  efforts  start  a  current  of  ascending  objectifica- 
tion,  which  in  its  turn  directs  the  counter-current 
of  matter.  Thus  all  Reality  appears  as  a  double 
movement  of  ascent  and  descent.  The  former  alone, 
revealing  an  interior  energy  of  creative  impulsion, 
has  endless  duration;  the  latter  might  be  said  to 
be  almost  instantaneous,  like  the  recoil  of  a  spring, 
but  each  imposes  its  rhythm  on  the  other.  From 
this  point  of  view  Spirit  and  Matter  do  not  appear  as 
opposed  entities — the  statical  terms  of  a  fixed  anti- 
thesis— but  rather  as  movement  in  inverse  directions; 
and  in  certain  relations  it  would  be  better  to  speak 
of  spiritualisation  and  materialisation,  rather  than 
of  Spirit  and  Matter,  the  latter  process  of  materiali- 
sation resulting  automatically  from  an  interruption 

*  Le  Roy  :    Une  Philosophie  Nouvelle, 

165  N 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  the  former.  **  Consciousness  "  or  **  Supercon- 
sciousness  "  is  the  rocket  whose  extinguished  remains 
fall  to  earth  as  Matter. 

*  Under  what  metaphor  is  the  course  of  the 
evolution  of  the  universe  presented  to  us  }  Not 
that  of  a  deductive  flow,  nor  of  a  series  of  stationary 
pulsations,  but  as  a  fountain,  which,  expanding  as 
It  rises,  partially  arrests  or  delays  the  drops  which 
fall  back.  The  jet  itself — the  reality  disclosed — is 
the  vital  activity  of  which  spiritual  activity  is  the 
highest  form;  and  the  drops  that  fall  back 
are  the  creative  movement  which  descends  with 
its  reality  dissipated — they  represent  Matter  and 
Inertia.* 

According  to  M.  Bergson,  *  Matter  is  defined  as  a 
species  of  descent;  this  descent  is  defined  as  the  inter- 
ruption of  an  ascent,  the  ascent  itself  as  a  growth,  and 
thus  a  creative  principle  is  inherent  in  all  things.*  * 
We  are  then  faced  with  the  question  of  origin.  How 
can  the  universe  have  come  from  nothing  .•'  How  can 
that  which  is  have  sprung  from  the  void, — from  that 
which  is  not  } 

According  to  M.  Bergson  that  question  should  not 
be  asked. 

*  The  idea  of  nothingness  in  the  sense  of  being 
an  opposite  to  existence,  is  a  pseudo-idea.'  In 
fact,  *  nothingness  is  unthinkable,  for  to  think  of 
"  nothing  '*  is  necessarily  to  think  in  some  way; 
the  representation  of  the  void  is  always  the  repre- 
sentation of  a  plenum^  which  can  be  analysed  into 
two  positive  elements — the  idea,  more  or  less  distinct, 
of  a  substitution ;  and  the  sensation,  real  or  imagined, 
of  a  desire  or  a  regret.* 

Hence  *  the  idea  of  absolute  nothingness  (under- 
stood in  the  sense  of  the  abolition  of  everything)  is 

»M.  leRoy:  Ibid. 
i66 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

an  idea  destructive  of  itself,  a  pseudo-idea,  a  mere 
word.' 

'  When  I  say,  **  there  is  nothing,"  it  is  not  that 
I  perceive  "  a  nothing,"  I  can  perceive  only  what  is; 
but  I  have  not  perceived  that  which  I  sought  for  and 
expected,  and  I  express  my  disappointment  in  the 
language  of  my  desire.* 

In  fine,  it  is  only  by  an  illusion  of  reason  that  the 
idea  of  Void  is  opposed  to  that  of  All.  It  is  to  *  oppose 
a  plenum  to  a  -plenum^  and  *  the  question  why  a  certain 
thing  exists  is  consequently  a  meaningless  question — 
a  pseudo-problem  built  on  a  pseudo-idea.' 

The  creative  -processus  cannot  therefore  not  exist, 
and  there  is  no  mystery  in  verify^ing  the  existence  of 
matter,  life,  or  consciousness.  They  are  functions  of 
'  duration.' 

The  only  mystery  lies  in  the  relations  between 
Creative  Evolution,  matter,  life,  and  consciousness. 

M.  Bergson  rejects  materialist  theories.  Conscious- 
ness is  not  the  result  of  the  working  of  the  brain : — 

*  Brain  and  consciousness  correspond  because 
each  measures  the  amount  of  choice  which  the  living 
being  has  at  disposal,  the  one  by  the  complexity  of 
its  structure,  the  other  by  the  intensity  of  its  awake- 
ness.  But  this  correspondence  is  not  an  equivalence 
or  a  parallelism.  Precisely  because  a  cerebral 
condition  merely  expresses  the  action  nascent  in  the 
corresponding  psychological  condition,  the  psycho- 
logical condition  vastly  outstrips  the  state  of  the 
brain.' 

M.  G.  Gillouin^  says: — 

*  M.  Bergson's  writings  abound  in  ingenious 
and  striking  similes  to  bring  out  the  solidarity  sui 

*  B-ssai  suit  les  Donnies  Immidiates  de  la  Conscience. 

167 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

generis  of  the  consciousness  and  the  organism. 
Because,  he  says,  a  certain  bolt  is  necessary  to  a 
given  machine,  which  works  when  the  bolt  is  in 
place  and  stops  if  it  be  removed,  no  one  will  main- 
tain that  the  bolt  is  the  equivalent  of  the  machine. 
But  the  relation  of  the  brain  to  consciousness  may 
well  be  that  of  the  bolt  to  the  engine.  Again,  M. 
Bergson  says,  the  consciousness  of  a  living  being 
is  in  solidarity  with  his  brain  in  the  sense  that  a 
pointed  knife  is  in  solidarity  with  its  point.  The 
brain  is  the  sharp  point  by  which  consciousness 
penetrates  the  dense  fabric  of  events,  but  it  is  no 
more  co-extensive  with  consciousness  than  the  point 
is  co-extensive  with  the  knife.' 

Therefore  the  consciousness  that  resides  in  us  is 
not  bound  to  the  organism,  but  enjoys  liberty.  But  this 
word  'liberty*  must  be  taken  in  a  very  wide  sense; 
that  which  is  free,  is  the  interior,  complete  self,  rather 
than  the  individualised  person. 

*  We  are  free,'  says  M.  Bergson,  'when  our  acts 
emanate  from  our  whole  personality.  Liberty  is 
therefore  a  function  of  our  power  of  introspection. 
.  .  .  Liberty  is  something  which  continuously  arises 
in  us;  we  are  liberable  rather  than  liberated;  and 
in  the  last  analysis,  it  is  a  matter  of  duration,  not 
of  space  and  number,  nor  of  our  improvisation  or 
decree;  the  free  act  has  been  long  prepared,  it  is 
weighted  with  our  whole  past,  and  falls  like  a  ripe 
fruit  from  our  previous  life.* 

*  What  are  we,  in  fact,^  what  is  our  character^ 
if  it  is  not  the  condensation  of  our  history  since  birth, 
or  even  before  birth,  since  we  bring  pre-natal 
dispositions  with  us  }  No  doubt  it  is  but  a  small 
part  of  that  past  that  enters  into  our  thoughts,  but 

»Le  Roy;  Ibid.  ^U Evolution  Criatrice. 

l68 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

we  desire,  and  will,  and  act,  from  the  whole  of  that 
past,  including  the  original  bent  of  the  soul.' 

These  general  ideas  being  admitted,  let  us  examine 
more  thoroughly  the  mechanism  of  Creative  Evolution. 
This  evolution  does  not  take  place  in  a  direct  line. 
From  the  centre  of  origin  there  flow  out  many  lines,  at 
first  interpenetrating,  close,  and  parallel,  which,  according 
to  their  degrees  of  evolution,  then  separate  and  diverge 
like  the  trail  of  a  group  of  rockets. 

On  the  earth  the  chief  lines  of  evolution  end  in  the 
creation  of  plant  life,  of  instinctive  animal  life,  and 
intellectual  human  life.  These  forms  are  absolutely 
distinct;  there  is  a  chasm  between  the  plant  and  the 
animal,  and  between  the  animal  and  Man. 

M.  Bergson  writes: — 

'  The  capital  error  which  has  vitiated  naturalistic 
philosophy  since  the  time  of  Aristotle,  has  been  to 
see  in  vegetative,  instinctive,  and  rational  life  three 
successive  degrees  of  one  and  the  same  tendency, 
whereas  they  are  three  divergent  directions  of  one 
activity  which  has  become  tripartite  in  process  of 
its  increase.  The  difference  between  them  is  one 
of  essential  nature,  not  of  degree.* 

He  says,  further: — 

*  Intelligence  and  instinct  represent  two  divergent 
and  equally  elegant  solutions  of  one  and  the  same 
problem;  .  .  .  between  animals  and  Man  there  is 
no  longer  a  difference  of  degree,  but  of  kind. 

To  meet  the  objection  that  intelligence  is  discoverable 
in  animals  and  instincts  in  Man,  M.  Bergson  says: — 

*  Having  at  first  interpenetrated  one  another. 
Intelligence  and  Instinct  retain  something  of  their 
common  origin.     Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  are 

169 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

found  in  their  pure  state;  there  is  no  intelligence 
in  which  traces  of  instinct  are  not  to  be  found;  and, 
more  especially,  no  instinct  without  a  fringe  of 
intelligence.' 

But  the  essential  characteristic  of  the  animal  is 
instinct,  and  that  of  the  man  is  intelligence. 

What  is  the  part  assigned  to  Man  in  the  creation  ? 
His  function  is  unique,  he  represents  that  which  is 
essential  in  evolution  as  actually  realised,  vegetable 
and  animal  life  being  merely  gropings  after  the  human. 

*  Everything,'  says  M.  Bergson,  *  comes  to  pass 
as  though  an  undecided  and  impressionable  being, 
call  him  Man  or  Superman,  as  you  will,  had  sought 
to  realise  himself,  and  had  succeeded  in  doing  so 
only  at  the  price  of  leaving  a  part  of  himself  by  the 
way.  These  residues  are  represented  by  the  animal, 
and  even  by  the  vegetable  world.* 

Man  only  has  been  able  to  acquire  consciousness. 

*  In  Man,  consciousness  breaks  the  chain  (of 
material  needs);  in  Man  and  in  Man  alone,  it  is 
freed.  Till  this  point  was  reached  life  had  been  an 
effort  of  consciousness  to  raise  matter,  and  con- 
sciousness was  more  or  less  crushed  out  under  its 
weight.  .  .  .  The  task  to  be  accomplished  was  to 
use  matter  (which  is  necessity),  to  create  an  instru- 
ment for  liberty,  to  make  machinery  which  would 
triumph  over  mechanism,  and  to  employ  the  deter- 
minism of  Nature  to  pass  through  the  meshes  of 
the  net  which  that  determinism  had  spread.  But 
in  all  cases  except  that  of  Man,  consciousness  has 
been  caught  in  the  net  through  which  it  would  fain 
have  passed. 

*  It  has  remained  captive  to  the  mechanism  which 

170 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

it  invented.  From  the  springboard  whence  Life 
took  its  leap,  all  the  others  failed  to  reach  the  bar; 
Man  alone  has  leaped  high  enough.* 

Is  the  human  consciousness,  thus  formed  and  freed, 
indestructible  or  does  it  cease  at  death  ? 

To  this  grave  question,  which  dominates  all  religions 
and  philosophies,  M.  Bergson  merely  replies: — 

*  All  Humanity  is  an  immense  army  which 
presses  forward  in  Space  and  Time,  before,  behind, 
and  by  the  side  of  us  all,  in  an  impulsive  charge  that 
can  overcome  every  resistance  and  clear  many  an 
obstacle,  perhaps  even  death.* 

Such  is  the  summary  of  M.  Bergson*s  chief  teaching. 
We  have  now  to  discuss  the  method  on  which  this 
teaching  is  founded. 

M.  Bergson 's  method  for  the  solution  of  philoso- 
phical problems  is  to  appeal  to  the  intuition  and  not  to 
the  understanding. 

He  allots  to  intelligence  the  task  of  finding  solutions 
of  all  problems  which  have  to  do  with  the  relations  of 
the  Self  to  the  universe,  and  with  the  knowledge  of 
material  and  inorganic  existence,  nothing  more.  This 
is  the  domain  of  science. 

As  for  the  world  of  Life  and  the  soul,  it  is  amenable 
neither  to  thought  nor  to  scientific  knowledge,  but  to 
intuition. 

What,  then,  is  intuition,  according  to  M.  Bergson  } 

The  intuition  is  nothing  else  than  instinct  conscious 
of  itself,  able  to  consider  its  purpose  and  enlarge  that 
purpose  indefinitely. 

*  If  the  consciousness  which  sleeps  in  instinct 
were  to  awake;  if  it  were  to  interiorise  itself  in 
knowledge  instead  of  exteriorising  itself  in  action;  if 

171 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

we  could  question  it,  and  if  it  could  reply,  it  would 
give  up  to  us  the  most  intimate  secrets  of  life,  for 
it  does  but  continue  the  work  by  which  Life  organises 
Matter.' 

Unfortunately,  as  a  consequence  of  the  evolution 
of  the  animal  to  man,  intuition  is  vague  and  discon- 
tinuous; *  it  is  an  expiring  lamp  which  burns  up  at 
long  intervals  and  for  a  few  moments  only  ...  it  sheds 
but  a  feeble  and  flickering  light  on  our  personality, 
on  the  place  which  we  hold  in  Nature,  on  our  origin 
and  destiny,  but  its  rays  scarcely  penetrate  the  darkness 
in  which  our  reason  leaves  us.' 

The  intuition,  however,  cannot  dispense  with  reason, 
we  must  inevitably  reckon  with  reason  in  some  measure, 
and  taking  account  of  the  lessons  of  fact,  must  submit 
them  to  the  control  of  reason. 

But  *  the  proper  task  of  philosophy  is  to  absorb 
reason  into  instinct,  or  rather  to  reintegrate  instinct  in 
Intelligence.'  Thus  understood  '  philosophy  includes, 
pre-supposes,  and  rests  on  science ;  and  it  further  involves 
tests  by  experimental  verification.'* 

It  has  been  objected  that  this,  concept  of  intuition 
and  its  relations  to  intelligence  is  paradoxical,  the  reason- 
ing being  in  a  vicious  circle.  Bergsonians  have  been 
told — 'you  claim,  on  the  one  hand,  that  intuition  goes 
beyond  intelligence  in  a  domain  proper  to  itself,  and 
on  the  other  you  reserve  to  intelligence  a  right  of  control 
in  this  domain  which  is  not  its  own  1 ' 

Bergsonians  reply  that  the  answer  is  that  the 
intelligence  to  which  they  refer  is  not  *the  critical  and 
discursive  intelligence,  guided  by  its  own  power  .  .  . 
and  enclosed  in  an  inviolable  circle.  We  are  speaking  of 
something  quite  different — that  intelligence  should  take 
the  risk  of  a  plunge  into  the  phosphorescent  water 
around  it,   which  is   not  altogether  strange  to  reason 

»  Le  Roy  :   Ibid. 
172 


"From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

since  reason  arose  from  it,  and  since  it  contains  the 
powers  complementary  to  understanding.  The  intelli- 
gence can  therefore  adapt  itself,  and  will  have  been  only 
lost  for  the  moment,  that  it  may  become  greater, 
stronger,  and  enriched.'^ 

To  break  through  '  the  inviolable  circle  *  the  intelli- 
gence must  set  aside  its  habitual  methods  of  reasoning 
and  give  itself  up  to  the  magic  power  of  intuition. 
Renewed,  vivified,  elated,  and  transformed  by  intuition, 
the  intelligence  will  become  a  super-intelligence  capable 
even  of  judging  the  results  of  intuition. 


2. CRITICISM    OF   THE    BERGSONIAN    PHILOSOPHY 

The  Bergsonian  philosophy  presents  to  criticism  a 
method  and  a  doctrine. 

Let  us  examine  the  method  in  the  first  place. 

According  to  Bergson  the  great  philosophical  prob- 
lems on  life,  the  nature  of  being — and  of  the  universe, 
lie  outside  Science,  and  their  solution  depends  entirely 
on  intuition. 

Intuition,  as  he  understands  it,  is  both  instinctive 
inspiration  and  introspection.  It  admits  of  check  by 
the  intelligence,  but  only  if  super-intelligent,  so  to  say 
— an  intelligence  exalted  and  vivified  by  intuition. 

This  method  alone  admits  of  our  going  beyond 
known  facts  and  scientific  ideas. 

The  first  questions  that  arise  are: — 

1.  Is  this  Bergsonian   *  intuition  *   something  new, 

and    does   it   inaugurate   a    new   method   not 
previously  published  ? 

2.  Must    this    method    be    specially    retained    for 

philosophy   as    philosophy   specialises   in    this 
kind  of  method  ? 

»  Le  Roy :  lUd. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  answers  to  these  two  propositions  are  by  no 
means  established. 

It  is  clear  that  all  men  of  genius,  all  inventors,  all 
the  great  minds  which  have  added  something  new  to 
human  resources,  were  intuitive  by  nature. 

But  intuition  cannot  be  reserved  to  philosophy.  It 
belongs  to  many  departments  of  life — philosophical, 
artistic,  industrial,  and  scientific.  Science  depends  on 
intuition  as  much  as  on  reasoning.  The  great  scientific 
discoveries  existed  in  the  understanding  of  men  of 
genius  before  being  adapted  to  the  facts  and  shown  to 
be  true.  There  is  as  much  intuition  in  the  genius  of 
a  Newton  or  a  Pasteur,  as  in  that  of  a  great  metaphysician. 

The  distinction,  and  the  only  distinction,  between 
philosophical  and  scientific  method,  is  that  men  of 
science  keep  as  much  as  possible  within  the  limits  of 
fact  and  take  as  their  criterion  concordance  with  facts 
or  with  rational  inferences;  whilst  philosophers,  although 
endeavouring  to  keep  their  intuitions  in  accord  with 
facts,  sometimes  allow  themselves  to  propose  bold 
hypotheses  which  go  beyond  them. 

This,  and  no  more,  is  exactly  what  Bergson  has 
done. 

I  know  very  well  that  some  persons  see  in  the 
*  Bergsonian  intuition  *  something  heretofore  unpub- 
lished to  the  world.  I  humbly  avow  that  I  do  not 
comprehend  the  discussions  which  have  arisen  on  this 
matter  between  the  partisans  and  the  antagonists  of  M. 
Bergson,  and  I  even  find  them  tedious. 

It  is  well  to  bring  out  clearly  that  this  *  new  *  method 
which  consists  in  putting  intuition  in  contrast  with 
reason  and  in  referring  to  the  former  the  sole  origin 
of  philosophic  truths,  has  previously  been  definitely 
claimed  and  severely  criticised,  just  as  it  is  to-day. 

*  An    endeavour    is    being    made    to    smuggle 
palpable  sophisms  in  place  of  proofs ;  appeal  is  made 

174 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

to  intuition.  .  .  .  Thought,  that  is  to  say,  reasoned 
knowledge,  judicial  deliberation,  and  sincere  demon- 
stration— in  a  word  the  proper  and  normal  use  of 
reason — is  disliked:  a  supreme  contempt  is  pro- 
claimed for  rational  philosophy;  meaning  by  that, 
all  the  series  of  linked  and  logical  deductions  which 
characterise  the  work  of  previous  philosophers. 

*  Then,  when  the  dose  of  impudence  is  sufficient, 
and  encouraged  by  the  ignorance  prevailing  in  these 
times,  we  shall  soon  hear  something  of  this  sort; 
**  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that  the  *  manner- 
ism '  which  consists  in  enunciating  a  proposition, 
giving  the  reasons  which  support  it  and  similarly 
refuting  its  antithesis,  is  not  the  form  under  which 
truth  should  be  presented.  Truth  is  the  movement 
of  itself  by  itself."  ' 

By  whom  is  this  biting  apostrophe  } 

No  doubt,  it  will  be  thought  to  be  one  of  Mr 
Bergson's  detractors,  criticising  the  philosophy  of 
*  Duration.*  .  .  .  Not  at  all :  it  is  Schopenhauer  on 
Hegel.i 

But  the  question  of  the  novelty  and  the  originality 
of  the  Bergsonian  *  intuition  *  is  a  quite  secondary  matter. 
Let  us,  for  the  moment,  admit  the  novelty  and  content 
ourselves  with  a  valuation  of  the  method  by  what  it 
teaches  us.  Our  iudgment  will  go  by  the  results 
obtained. 

If  it  is  demonstrated  that  the  teachings  of  M. 
Bergson's  are  of  value  only  within  the  limits  within 
which  they  can  be  checked  by  facts;  that  when  they 
go  beyond  facts  they  are  insufficient  or  erroneous,  that 
will  suffice  to  prove  that  the  *  Bergsonian  intuition  *  has 
no  special  validity. 

It  will  then  be  no  longer  permissible  to  contrast  the 
intuitive  to  the  scientific  methods.    It  will  be  established 

^  Schopenhauer :    Parerga  et  Paralipomena. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

(yet  once  more)  that  there  is  one  only  method  of  reaching 
truth,  that  which  brings  the  results  of  intuition  into 
accord  with  logic  and  the  study  of  facts.  This  is  the 
positive  method  which  admits  only  rational  inductions 
as  valid.  M.  Bergson's  teachings  may  be  placed  in 
three  categories  : — 

(a)  Those  which  are  in  accord  with  facts,  and  are 

therefore  within  the  limits  of  scientific  method. 

(J?)  Those  which  are  not  deduced  from  facts,  and 

are  undemonstrable. 
(c)  Those   which   are   opposed  to   well   established 

facts,  and  are  therefore  erroneous. 
We  will  now  examine  these  three  categories. 


3. ^TEACHING   IN   ACCORD   WITH   FACTS  OR   DEDUCED 

FROM    THEM 

This  is  the  teaching  relating  to  the  proof  of  evolu- 
tion as  a  general  theory,  and  to  the  principle  of  the 
essential  causality  in  evolution. 

The  reality  of  transformism  and  the  impossibility 
of  explaining  it  by  the  classical  factors  of  selection  and 
adaptation  are  brought  into  full  light  by  M.  Bergson 
with  flawless  logic  and  an  irresistible  power  of  per- 
suasion. To  those  synthetic  reasons  which  have  been 
set  forth  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  work,  he  adds 
certain  reasons  of  an  analytical  and  special  order,  which 
will  be  found  scattered  here  and  there  throughout 
his  *  Creative  Evolution.*  He  finds  new  proofs  of  the 
impotence  of  the  classical  theories  in  the  study  of  certain 
details  of  comparative  anatomy,  such  as  the  eyes  of  some 
molluscs  compared  with  those  of  the  vertebrates. 

M.  Bergson's  analytical  work  is  extremely  con- 
scientious, and  the  reasoning  on  the  facts  before  him 
is  exact  and  rigorous.  If  it  is  not  of  a  kind  to  convince 
the  disciples  of  naturalism  (for  discussion  may  continue 

176 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

indefinitely  without  reaching  absolutely  unanswerable 
conclusions),  that  is  of  little  moment,  since  the  synthetic 
study  of  evolution  proves  undeniably  that  the  classical 
factors  are  secondary  and  there  is  some  essential  factor 
as  yet  unknown. 

The  necessity  for  this  essential  factor,  being  some 
kind  of  internal  creative  impulse  giving  rise  to  the 
*  vital  surge  '  is  evident  from  the  study  of  the  facts.  M. 
Bergson's  teachings  on  this  head,  are  strictly  rational 
inferences  which  do  not  transgress  the  limits  of  scientific 
method.  As  such,  and  apart  from  other  doctrines,  they 
ensure  a  unique  place  to  his  philosophy  in  the  higher 
walks  of  contemporary  thought. 

The  notion  of  the  *  vital  surge '  may  be  seen,  in 
germ,  in  some  naturalistic  systems  such  as  Nageli's, 
and  in  ancient  and  modern  pantheistic  philosophies, 
but  the  special  merit  of  the  Bergsonian  system  consists 
in  the  rigorous  application  of  this  idea  to  the  facts,  and 
in  a  presentment  which  is  truly  a  work  of  genius. 


4. DOCTRINES    WHICH    ARE    NOT    DEDUCED    FROM    FACTS 

AND    ARE    NOT    DEMONSTRABLE 

These  include  the  teaching  on  God,  the  non-existence 
of  void,  the  nature  of  matter  and  spirit,  the  relations 
of  consciousness  to  the  organism,  the  independence 
of  consciousness  and  matter,  on  human  liberty,  and  on 
the  hope  of  survival. 

All  these  are  given  without  being  based  on  facts, 
even  when  (as  we  shall  see  later)  the  facts  are  such  as 
might  be  used  partially  to  confirm  the  doctrines.  The 
teaching  on  these  points  is  of  the  intuitive  order.  There 
is  no  need  to  demonstrate  their  impotence.  The  classical 
physiological  ideas  which  make  consciousness  dependent 
on  the  brain  will  never  be  upset  by  arguments  drawn 
from  the  intuition.    As  long  as  the  experimental  idea  of 

177 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

a  psycho-physiological  parallelism  subsists  in  modern 
science,  all  the  beautiful  reasoning  of  a  spiritual  kind 
or  the  highest  idealist  hopes  (apart  from  an  act  of  faith), 
will  alike  be  entirely  inoperative  against  them. 

M.  Bergson's  efforts  to  buttress  intuitive  arguments 
by  ingenious  similes  will  not  do.  He  may  compare 
evolution  to  a  sheaf  of  rockets  with  God  at  its  centre; 
intelligence  to  the  ascending  energy  of  the  fireworks, 
and  matter  to  the  dead  sticks  falling  back  to  earth; 
he  may  imagine  many  comparisons  to  make  it  understood 
how,  in  spite  of  a  seeming  psycho-physiological  parallel- 
ism, consciousness  is  not  limited  by  the  organ  of  con- 
sciousness ...  all  these  similes,  however  ingenious, 
can  only  give  a  superficial  and  fugitive  satisfaction — they 
prove  nothing. 

Not  merely  do  they  prove  nothing,  they  are  dangerous, 
because  they  bring  errors  in  their  train  and  give  the 
illusion  of  proof  to  an  investigation  which  is  wanting 
in  thoroughness. 

The  chief  error  in  the  Bergsonian  philosophy,  an  error 
which  we  shall  presently  expose — its  anthropocentric 
concept — is  probably  due  to  the  initial  simile  comparing 
evolution  to  a  sheaf  of  diverging  rockets. 


5.— -CONTRADICTIONS    AND    INEXACTITUDES 

Besides  these  illusory  or  dangerous  similes,  M. 
Bergson's  philosophy  shows  obvious  contradictions  and 
inexactitudes  posing  as  a  system.  The  contradictions 
are  striking. 

M.  Bergson  makes  out  intuition  to  be  a  kind  of 
dethroned  instinct,  a  residue  of  the  animal  evolution. 
But  he  also  makes  it  the  basis  of  philosophic  method; 
so  much  so,  that,  according  to  his  system,  Man,  the 
privileged  member  of  creation,  can  know  truth  only  by 
the    faculty    which    (again    according    to    his    system) 

178 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

characterises  animal  evolution!  Then,  in  order  to 
palliate  the  insufficiency  of  the  former  idea,  he  makes  it 
a  superhuman  faculty,  which  nevertheless,  is  still  only 
instinct. 

He  rejects  the  control  of  the  intelligence  in  philoso- 
phical matters,  but  then  finds  himself  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  some  kind  of  super-intelligence,  different 
from  intelligence  itself. 

He  contrasts  intuition  and  intelligence,  but  by  most 
subtle  reasoning,  endeavours  to  bring  them  into  unity; 
he  places  the  criterion  of  truth  in  the  intuition  controlled 
by  intelligence  which  is  at  the  same  time  vivified  by 
the  intuition;  so  that  in  the  last  analysis  the  intuition 
is  both  advocate  and  judge. 

He  denies  to  logic  the  right  to  know  that  which 
deals  with  life  and  high  philosophical  problems,  but 
in  his  work  erudition  and  reasoning  take  a  very  pro- 
minent place. 

He  invents  a  new  metaphysical  entity — *  duration,' 
but  it  so  happens  that  this  entity  is  founded  on  that 
which  is  least  certain,  most  subjective,  and  most  relative 
to  our  understanding — the  concept  of  time! 

The  inexactitudes  are  yet  more  serious;  through 
them  M.  Bergson's  work  leads  to  a  vague  idealism — an 
idealism  which  does  not  express  itself  frankly  and 
clearly. 

Difficulties  seem  eluded  rather  than  solved.  The 
old  contradictions  are  not  reconciled  by  a  higher  synthesis, 
which,  whether  true  or  not,  might  at  least  be  precise; 
they  are  (we  must  venture  to  say)  subtilised  under 
confused  and  plastic  formulae. 

This  quasi-systematic  lack  of  preciseness  causes  the 
earnest  reader  of  M.  Bergson's  work  to  feel  a  discomfort 
which  neither  his  genius  nor  his  skill  can  dispel.  It  is 
hard  to  know  whether  one  perceives  the  truth  through  a 
mirage,  or  is  simply  the  dupe  of  illusion  and  paradox. 
The  impression  that  remains  is  that  of  a  splendid  but 

170 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

phantasmal  edifice,  of  gorgeous  tapestries  hiding  an 
imperfect  and  defective  structure  whose  foundations  are 
insecure.  We  lie  under  the  magic  spell  and  fear  to 
awake  disillusioned. 

M.  Gillouin^  says:  *  M.  Bergson  carries  us  along 
with  him  round  and  over  all  obstacles,  with  an  ease 
which  makes  us  think  of  some  high  intellectual  school 
of  thought.'  Unfortunately  it  also  makes  us  think  of 
skilful  sleight  of  hand.  .  .  . 

The  want  of  preciseness  in  Bergsonian  philosophy 
makes  it  appear  conformable,  at  least  on  a  superficial 
survey,  to  the  most  opposite  doctrines.  It  would  be 
comical,  were  it  not  saddening,  to  see  men  who  stand 
for  the  most  opposed  ideas  placing  themselves  under 
M.  Bergson's  aegis.  Deists  -and  pantheists,  orthodox 
and  theosophists,  neo-occultists,  and  even  it  would  seem 
neo-syndicalists  2  all  invoke  his  authority. 

As  for  the  philosophers,  they  are  simply  disconcerted 
by  a  system  so  pliable  as,  on  the  one  hand,  to  allow  of 
the  assertion  that  ^  *  whatever  may  be  the  deepest  essential 
nature  of  things  we  are  a  part  thereof*  (which  seems 
a  profession  of  pantheist  faith  conformable  to  the  general 
spirit  of  Bergsonian  metaphysics);  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  affirm  that  the  whole  of  this  metaphysic  'presents 
the  idea  of  a  God  freely  creating  both  matter  and  life, 
whose  creative  work  is  continued  by  the  evolution  of 
species  and  by  the  constitution  of  human  personalities,' 
and  also,  that  *  this  work  is  the  categorical  refutation  of 
both  monism  and  pantheism ! '  * 

6. DOCTRINES     CONTRARY    TO     WELL-ESTABLISHED     FACTS 

One  of  M.  Bergson's  principal  doctrines  is  that  the 
distinction  between  the  animals  and  man  is  one  of 
nature,  not  of  degree. 

*  Gillouin  :    La  Philosophie  de  M.  Bergson.  '  *  Idem. 
'  Revue  de  Miiaphysique  et  de  Morale,  Nov.  191 1. 

*  Etudes,  20th  Feb.,  1917. 

180 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  distinction  is  not  supported  by  any  facts,  and 
contradicts  the  most  certain  data  of  contemporary 
psychology. 

According  to  M.  Bergson,  the  divergent  lines  of 
evolution  have  produced  on  the  one  hand,  the  animal 
instincts,  and  on  the  other,  the  human  intelligence. 
Animal  instinct  has  retained  *  fringes  of  intelligence,' 
and  human  intelligence  has  kept  a  residue  of  instinct. 
But  instinct  and  intelligence  are  separated  by  an  impas- 
sable abyss,  and  Man  alone  is  the  essential  and  superior 
product  of  evolution,  while  the  vegetable  and  animal 
world  are  its  residual  products. 

This  theory  is  profoundly  distasteful  to  naturalistic 
philosophy  which  sees  in  it  a  return,  whether  sincere 
or  disguised,  to  old  anthropocentric  ideas.  If  it  were 
established  on  any  positive  data,  it  would  profoundly 
disturb  the  whole  evolutionary  synthesis. 

But  these  data  do  not  exist  and  M.  Bergson's 
teaching  rests  on  an  omission  fatal  to  his  theory.  The 
concept  of  Creative  Evolution  takes  no  account  of  sub- 
conscious psychism. 

The  study  of  this  subconscious  psychism  proves  to 
the  point  of  demonstration,  as  we  shall  see,  the  identity 
of  the  nature  of  animals  and  man. 

There  is  no  need  to  seek  to  discover  whether  there 
are  in  animals  more  than  fringes  of  intelligence;  com- 
parative psychology  is  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  permit 
of  this  being  established  with  any  certainty.  It  will 
suffice  to  demonstrate  that  there  is  in  man  much  more 
than  residues  of  instinct;  there  is  a  vast  subconscious 
domain  which  is  instinct  much  more  highly  developed. 

To  this  domain  belong  the  automatism  of  the  main 
functions  of  life  which  are  identical  in  animals  and  men ; 
the  great  instinctive  impulses  of  self-preservation,  repro- 
duction, etc.,  equally  potent  in  animals  and  Man  though 
frequently  masked  in  the  latter;  and  finally  the  higher 
active   subconsciousness,    of  which   animal   instinct   is 

i8i  o 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

but  the  first  manifestation,  which  has  in  human  mental 
life  a  much  larger  field  than  that  of  the  consciousness  by 
which  it  is  concealed  from  view. 

Subconscious  psychology  dominates  human  and 
animal  life  alike,  and  consciousness  appears  only  as  an 
acquisition  growing  with  evolution  and  proportional  to 
the  level  of  that  evolution.  There  is  therefore  no  differ- 
ence in  the  essential  nature  of  animals  and  man;  from 
the  psychic  point  of  view  both  are  governed  by  the 
subconscious.  There  is  between  them  only  a  difference 
of  degree,  which  is  marked  by  the  amount  of  conscious 
realisation. 

The  demonstration  of  this  truth  is  of  capital  import, 
for  it  involves  the  failure  of  one  of  the  chief  doctrines 
of  the  Bergsonian  system,  and  therefore  invalidates  its 
whole  method. 

This  demonstration  falls  into  three  parts. 
{a)  Animal  instinct  is  but  the  first  manifestation  of 
unconscious   psychism,   and   is   of  an   inferior 
kind. 
(b)  Human  subconsciousness  is  the  animal  instinct 
developed,    expanded,    and   enriched    by    pro- 
gressive evolution. 
{c)  The  degree  of  conscious  realisation  in  the  animal 
and  in  man,  and  from  the  animal  to  man,  is 
purely  and  simply  a  function  ^  of  the  evolutionary 
level  attained. 

(d)  THE  ANIMAL  INSTINCT  IS  BUT  THE  FIRST 
MANIFESTATION  OF  SUBCONSCIOUS  PSYCHISM  OF 
AN    INFERIOR    KIND 

Instinct,  for  the  most  part,  obeys  neither  logic  nor 
conscious  reasoning,  nor  will.  Its  characteristics  are 
those  of  human  subconsciousness.     It  attains  marvellous 

*  '  Function ' :  here  used  in  the  mathematical  sense — a  quantity 
whose  changes  of  value  depend  on  those  of  other  quantities  called  its 
variables. — [Translator's  note.] 

182 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

results  superior  to  those  of  intentional  and  conscious 
thought;  and  this  is  precisely  the  case  with  human 
subconsciousness.  It  is  essentially  mysterious,  and 
follows  no  known  psychological  laws;  just  like  human 
subconsciousness.  Finally  it  is  connected  to  the  human 
subconsciousness  by  that  supernormal  psychology  which 
at  the  present  time  must  always  be  taken  into  account. 

In  the  manifestations  of  what  is  called  accidental 
instinct  a  very  marked  and  striking  transition  from 
instinctive  subconsciousness  properly  so  called,  to  super- 
normal subconsciousness  may  be  observed. 

Guided  by  this  accidental  instinct,  animals  some- 
times behave  with  the  certainty  and  lucidity  which 
pertain  to  human  somnambulism. 

Fabre  cites  the  following  instances  from  his  own 
observation. 

A  cat  was  taken  from  the  house  where  it  had  lived 
to  quite  the  other  side  of  the  town  of  Avignon,  without 
any  means  of  seeing  the  road  by  which  it  had  been 
conveyed.  It  escaped,  and  very  shortly  afterwards 
reached  its  old  home,  having  traversed  the  town  nearly 
in  a  straight  line,  taking  no  account  of  any  obstacles 
not  absolutely  impassable.  It  had  to  pass  through  a 
labyrinth  of  populous  streets  and  did  not  appear  to 
notice  any  of  the  dangers  of  the  way  from  boys  and 
dogs.  It  swam  the  river  Sorgue,  ignoring  the  bridges, 
which  did  not  happen  to  be  just  on  its  line:  in  short, 
it  acted  just  as  if  in  the  somnambulic  state. 

Another  cat  was  taken  by  train  from  Orange  to 
Serignan  (over  four  miles).  For  the  first  few  days  it 
seemed  to  be  getting  used  to  its  new  abode,  showing 
no  tendency  to  escape.  Then  suddenly  it  showed  an 
irresistible  desire  to  return,  and  went  back  to  its  old 
home  by  the  shortest  line,  crossing  the  river  Aygues 
by  swimming. 

Many  analogous  cases  of  dogs  returning  to  their 
masters'  house  after  long  and  intricate  journeys  have 

183 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

often  been  reported.  In  these  cases  we  touch  what  has 
been  called  *  metapsychic  phenomenology.* 

True  supernormal  manifestations,  as  well  as  hypnotic 
or  somnambulic  phenomena  have  been  observed  in 
animals.  Some  have  strange  premonitions;  the  'death- 
howl  *  of  a  dog,  once  heard  in  tragic  circumstances,  can 
never  be  forgotten.  I  have  myself  heard  it  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  and  have  been  vividly  impressed  by  it. 

For  instance,  I  was  one  night  watching,  in  my  medical 
capacity,  by  a  young  woman  who,  in  the  midst  of  health, 
had  been  stricken  down  that  very  day  by  mortal  illness. 
She  was  dying,  and  the  death  rale  was  in  her  throat. 
The  family  was  present,  silent  and  deeply  distressed. 
The  time  was  i  a.m.     (She  died  at  daybreak.) 

Suddenly  from  the  garden  which  surrounded  the 
house  came  the  *  death-howl  *  of  the  house-dog — a  long, 
lugubrious  wail  on  one  note,  at  first  loud  then  falling 
diminuendo  slowly  to  a  close. 

For  some  seconds  there  was  silence,  then  the  wail 
began  again,  as  before.  The  dying  woman  had  a  gleam 
of  consciousness  and  looked  at  us  with  an  anxious  expres- 
sion. She  had  understood.  Her  husband  went  out 
in  haste  to  silence  the  dog.  At  his  approach  the  dog 
fled  and  hid,  and  in  the  darkness  it  was  impossible  to 
find  it.  As  soon  as  the  man  returned  to  the  house  the 
wails  began  again,  and  continued  for  more  than  an 
hour  till  the  animal  could  be  seized  and  taken  away. 

Dr  A.  R.  Wallace,  and  others  have  cited  many 
cases  of  a  metapsychic  kind,  still  more  mysterious,  in 
which  animals,  especially  dogs  and  horses,  have  been 
the  agents.  In  this  connection  the  case  of  the  Elberfeld 
calculating  horses  may  be  mentioned;  these  have  been 
observed  and  the  facts  verified  by  several  men  of  science, 
among  others  Professor  Clapar^de  of  Geneva.  All 
agree  in  authenticating  the  facts.  M.  de  Vesme^  has 
shown    that   the   solutions   (to   mathematical    questions 

^  Annates  des  Sciences  Psychiques. 
184 


Trom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

given  by  these  horses)  cannot  be  reasoned  or  conscious, 
but  are  of  the  metapsychic  and  subconscious  order.  I 
think  it  needless  to  insist  on  these  and  analogous  facts 
known  to  all  specialists  of  the  subconscious. 

Von  Hartmann  has  already  pointed  out  the  similarity 
between  instincts  and  supernormal  manifestations  in  the 
case  of  presentiments,  second-sight,  and  clairvoyance. 
Instinct,  he  remarks,  and  the  unconscious,  intrude 
their  results  on  consciousness  in  each  case  with  the 
same  suddenness  and  precision. 

To  sum  up,  the  final  results  of  the  analysis  of  animal 
instinct  are,  that  it  is  of  the  subconscious  order;  that 
it  is  in  essence  the  same  as  human  subconsciousness; 
and  that  it  is  obviously  only  the  first  and  lower  manifes- 
tation of  the  subconscious  psychism. 

If  it  occupies  the  whole,  or  what  appears  to  be  the 
whole,  of  the  psychological  field  of  the  animal,  that  is 
merely  because  in  the  animal  consciousness  is  as  yet 
undeveloped. 


{V)  HUMAN  SUBCONSCIOUSNESS  IS  THE  ANIMAL  INSTINCT 
DEVELOPED,  EXPANDED,  AND  ENRICHED  BY  PRO-- 
GRESSIVE    EVOLUTION 

This  law  is  the  corollary  of  the  last,  and  rests  on 
the  same  arguments.  All  that  essentially  characterises 
human  subconsciousness  is  found  in  animal  instinct. 
M.  Ribot  says  of  inspiration  that  *  primarily  it  is 
impersonal  and  involuntary,  it  acts  like  an  instinct^  when 
and  how  it  will.'* 

It  only  remains  to  show  that  all  particulars  in  which 
subconsciousness  is  superior  to  instinct,  can  be  simply 
explained  by  difference  in  the  evolutionary  level.  For 
this  demonstration  we  must  refer  the  reader  to  Book  II. 

We   shall   there   show  the  processus   by  which   the 

*  Ribot :   Psychologic  des  Sentiments.    The  italics  are  Dr  Geley's. 

185 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

progressive  enrichment  of  the  subconscious  has  come 
about,  and  how  the  inspiration  of  genius,  with  its  higher 
intuition  and  creative  faculty,  is  visible  and  already 
outlined,  in  the  animal  instincts. 

It  will  be  difficult  for  M.  Bergson*s  partisans  to 
revolt  against  this  law,  since  they  admit  that  intuition 
is  essentially  instinctive.  Intuition  can  be  very  much 
better  understood  as  an  expansion  and  enrichment  of 
instinct,  than  by  considering  it  as  a  residue  of  an  animal 
faculty. 


(t)  THE  DEGREE  OF  CONSCIOUS  REALISATION  IN  THE 
ANIMAL  AND  IN  MAN,  AND  FROM  THE  ANIMAL  TO 
MAN,  IS  PURELY  AND  SIMPLY  A  FUNCTION  OF  THE 
EVOLUTIONARY    LEVEL    ATTAINED 

The  demonstration  of  this  law  also  is  deferred  to 
Book  II.,  but  the  importance  of  this  demonstration  is 
lessened  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  major  portion 
of  psychology,  whether  animal  or  human,  is  subconscious 
and  essentially  the  same  in  both.  From  this  it  follows 
that  the  capital  distinction  between  animal  instinct  and 
human  intelligence  which  M.  Bergson  labours  to 
establish  loses  all  importance. 

Considering  only  the  evolution  of  consciousness 
(taken  separately),  it  obviously  is  merely  a  function  of 
the  evolutionary  level,  and  equally  obviously  there  is  no 
impassable  abyss  between  animal  and  human  intelligence. 
It  appears  profoundly  illogical  and  erroneous  to  say 
that  there  are  in  the  animal  only  *  fringes  of  intelligence.* 

From  the  lowest  to  the  highest  evolutionary  types 
the  conscious  intelligence  is  observable  as  a  develop- 
ment by  stages.  It  is  potential  only  in  plants  and  in 
very  inferior  animals;  sketched  out  in  higher  species; 
distinctly  active  in  the  highest  animals,  in  which  it 
begins  to  play  an  important  part;    still  more  distinct 

i86 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  active  in  the  lower  grades  of  Humanity;  and 
expanded  and  developed  in  the  highest  human  types. 

It  now  only  remains  to  draw  a  general  conclusion 
from  this  study  of  M.  Bergson's  concepts  as  set  forth 
in  UEvolution  Creatrice. 

Of  all  its  doctrines  the  only  ones  which  can  stand 
criticism  are  those  which  are  based  on  the  study  of 
facts  or  drawn  by  reasoned  inference  from  the  examina- 
tion of  facts.  These  are  the  teaching  on  the  primordial 
cause  of  evolution,  on  the  insufficiency  of  the  classical 
factors  of  selection  and  adaptation,  and  on  the  need  for 
recognising  an  essential  and  creative  vital  impulse. 

The  other  doctrines,  based  on  an  alleged  new  notion 
of  intuition,  are  either  insufficient  or  inexact  or,  worse 
still,  are  contrary  to  the  facts. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  M.  Bergson's  method, 
and  however  great  our  admiration  for  his  incomparable 
talent  of  exposition  and  his  persuasive  eloquence,  we 
cannot  find  in  the  system  of  Creative  Evolution  a 
solution  to  the  great  enigma.  The  truths  which  that 
system  contains  are  eclipsed  by  a  proved  error  bearing 
on  an  essential  point,  an  error  which  radically  vitiates 
all  his  metaphysic. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    PHILOSOPHY   OF   THE    UNCONSCIOUS 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  principal  error  of  M.  Bergson's 
Creative  Evolution  and,  generally,  of  his  whole  system, 
consists  in  his  disregard  of  the  psychology  called  sub- 
conscious or  unconscious. 

We  shall  now  examine  a  philosophy  which,  in 
contrast  with  M.  Bergson's,  is  based  on  the  unconscious. 

The  expression,  *  The  Philosophy  of  the  Uncon- 
scious,* was  invented  by  von  Hartmann;  but  the 
foundation  of  that  philosophy,  the  notion  of  a  creative, 
immanent,  and  omnipresent  unconsciousness  belongs 
to  all  ages  and  all  civilisations. 

The  numerous  metaphysical  concepts  of  the  human 
understanding  on  the  nature  of  things  come  in  the 
end  to  two  classes,  apparently  contradictory;  if  indeed 
the  contradiction  is  not  really  due  to  the  limitations  of 
our  intellectual  and  intuitional  faculties. 
,  The  one  class  admits  a  Creator  and  a  creation,  and 
understands  the  latter  as  the  carrying  out  of  the  design 
of  a  sovereign  and  conscious  will.  These  theories  raise 
irreconcilable  contradictions;  such  as  the  co-existence 
of  providential  foresight  with  the  prevalence  of  evil; 
and  of  the  soul  of  man  as  immortal  but  not  eternal, 
having  a  beginning  but  no  end.  The  other  class  places 
the  Divine  Idea  in  the  universe  itself;  its  theories  seek 
to  disentangle  the  one  sole  permanent  divine  essence 
from  the  infinite  varieties  of  passing  and  ephemeral 
phenomena. 

Those  who  belong  to  the  latter  class  consider  that 
the  universe  of  matter,  energy,  and  mind  is  made 
Mp    of   *  representations  '    or    '  objectifications  *    of  the 

i88 


Trom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

creative  immanence,  but  that  these  do  not  necessarily 
proceed  from  a  deliberately  willed  design,  because 
consciousness  does  not  appear  as  a  primordial  attribute 
of  Unity. 

The  One,  the  Real,  as  opposed  to  the  many  and  the 
illusory,  is  the  divine  principle  of  the  religions  of 
India.  It  is  the  single  principle  of  pantheism  and 
Monism.  It  is  the  '  Idea '  of  Plato,  the  *  Active 
Intellect '  of  Averroes,  the  Natura  naturans  '  of  Spinoza, 
the  '  Thing  in  Itself  of  Kant;  it  is  the  '  Will '  as  under- 
stood by  Schopenhauer,  and  it  is  the  *  Unconscious  ' 
of  von  Hartmann. 


I. SCHOPENHAUER  S    DEMONSTRATION 

Until  modern  times  this  great,  concept  rested  on 
intuition  alone.  It  was  of  a  metaphysical  nature,  and 
was  consequently  enmeshed  in  obscurities  and  contra- 
dictions. 

Only  in  our  own  day  has  it  been  more  and  more 
conformed  to  facts  and  has  entered  into  the  domain  of 
scientific  philosophy.  It  adapts  itself  to  facts  so  well, 
that  it  is  doubtless  destined  to  reconcile  the  genius  of 
the  East  and  the  West;  to  bring  the  highest  truths 
within  our  reach;  and  to  be  the  foundation  and  the 
framework  of  a  structure  both  scientific  and  philo- 
sophical which  will  extend  its  shelter  to  all  aspirations 
and  ideals. 

Schopenhauer  has  the  high  merit  of  being  the  first 
who  sought  to  adapt  this  system  to  facts.  No  doubt  his 
system  contains  serious  errors,  referable  to  the  insufii- 
cient  biological  and  psychological  data  at  his  disposal; 
but  by  the  clarity  and  precision  of  his  mind  and  by  the 
depth  of  his  genius,  his  work  deserves  to  be  taken  as 
the  point  of  departure  for  every  modern  study  on  the 
nature  of  things. 

189 


Vrom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

In  order  to  understand  the  remainder  of  the  present 
work,  it  is  necessary  that  Schopenhauer's  thesis  should 
be  kept  in  mind. 

But  *  The  World  as  Will  and  Representation  * 
cannot  be  given  in  a  summary.  It  must  be  studied  and 
meditated  upon  as  it  stands.  The  primary  idea  which 
reduces  the  innumerable  appearances  of  things  to  one 
single,  essential,  and  permanent  principle,  cannot  be 
detached  from  its  intuitive  and  logical  demonstration 
and  its  development  by  a  masterly  inspiration;  in 
a  word,  from  the  magical  framework  in  which  this  great 
philosopher  has  set  it.  This  framework  is  necessary 
to  the  comprehension  of  its  power  and  to  the  manifesta- 
tion of  its  value  and  beauty. 

An  analytical  summary  is,  however,  indispensable, 
as  I  am  well  aware.  I  must,  however,  beg  the  instructed 
reader  to  pardon  its  inevitable  insufficiency,  and  to 
excuse  what  seems  to  me  like  a  profanation. 

Schopenhauer's  system  does  not  claim  to  explain 
everything.  He  declares  that  certain  questions  of  high 
metaphysics,  such  as  the  beginning  and  end  of  things, 
are  incapable  of  complete  solution.  He  does  not  ask 
whence  came  this  world  nor  how  it  will  end.  He  only 
inquires  what  it  is. 

To  him  the  world  is  at  once  will  and  representation ; 
a  real  will  and  an  illusory  and  factitious  representation. 

Why  does  he  select  the  designation  of  *  Will  *  to 
describe  the  real  essence  of  things  .''    Because  Will — 

*  is  something  that  we  know  directly;  something 
that  we  know  and  understand  better  than  anything 
else  .  .  ,  the  concept  of  Will  is  the  only  one  among 
all  known  concepts  which  does  not  take  its  rise 
from  phenomena  and  intuitive  representations,  but 
comes  from  the  depths  of  the  individual  conscious- 
ness which  recognises  itself  essentially,  directly, 
without  any  forms,  even  of  subject  and  object,  seeing 

190 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

that  here  that  which  knows  and  that  which  is  known 
coincide.* 

Will  is  the  sole  thing  which  really  exists.  It  is  the 
Divine  Absolute.  It  is  one,  indestructible,  eternal, 
outside  Space  and  Time.  It  implies  neither  individual- 
isation,  nor  beginning,  nor  end,  nor  origin,  nor 
annihilation. 

Will,  in  objectifying  itself  produces  the  diverse  and 
innumerable  appearances  of  things.  *  In  the  multiplicity 
of  phenomena  which  fill  the  world,  which  co-exist  or 
succeed  one  another  as  the  succession  of  events,  it  is 
Will  only  that  is  manifested.  All  these  phenomena  do 
but  make  it  visible  and  objective;  it  remains  immovable 
in  the  midst  of  all  these  variations.  It  is  the  Thing  in 
Itself;  and,  to  take  the  words  of  Kant,  every  object  is 
manifestation  and  phenomenon.' ^ 

Will  is  primitively  and  essentially  unconscious.  It 
needs  no  motives  for  action.  We  see  it  active  in  animals; 
active  without  any  kind  of  knowledge,  under  the  im- 
pulsion of  blind  instinct.  In  man,  Will  is  unconscious 
in  all  the  organic  functions,  indigestion,  secretion, 
growth,  reproduction,  and  all  vital  processes.  *  It  is 
not  only  the  actions  of  the  body,  it  is  the  whole  body 
itself  which  is  the  phenomenal  expression  of  Will,  it  is  Will 
objectified  and  become  concrete;  therefore  everything 
which  happens  in  it  must  have  emerged  from  Will;  and 
here,  however,  this  will  is  not  guided  by  consciousness 
nor  regulated  by  motives;    it  acts  blindly  .  .  .' 

Will  shows  itself  as  unconscious  in  the  vast  majority 
of  its  representations;  in  the  whole  inorganic  world,  in 
the  plant-world,  and  in  nearly  the  whole  animal  world. 

That  which  we  call  consciousness  has  nothing  in 
itself  of  an  essential  nature.  It  does  not  belong  insepar- 
ably to  will.  It  is  but  a  temporary  realisation,  ephemeral 
and  vain. 

^  The  World  as  Will  and  Representation. 
191 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

*  Will,  without  intelligence  (and  in  itself  it  is 
no  other),  blind,  irresistible,  as  we  see  it  in  the 
inorganic  and  in  the  vegetable  world  and  in  their 
laws;  as  we  see  it  also  in  the  vegetative  life  of  our 
own  bodies,  this  Will,  I  say,  thanks  to  the  objectified 
world  which  lies  open  to  it  and  develops  in  order 
to  serve  it,  comes  to  know  that  it  desires,  and  what 
it  desires;  and  this  is  the  world  as  it  is,  it  is  life 
as  realised  in  the  world.* 

But  this  limited  consciousness  which  the  will  thus 
acquires  is  still  more  ephemeral,  and  does  not  overstep 
the  temporary  boundaries  of  individualisation.  It  is 
only  whilst  individualisation  lasts  that  it  has  a  part  to 
play,  and  this  part  is  only  to  substitute  an  intentional 
and  limited  activity  for  its  unconsidered  and  boundless 
impulses. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  to  distinguish  accurately 
between  the  unconscious  will  and  its  conscious  expres- 
sion. That  which  is  really  superior  in  man,  his  eternal 
essence,  his  genius,  his  inspiration,  his  creative  power, 
all  these  are  impersonal,  all  belong  to  the  unconscious^ 
will. 

The  domain  of  consciousness,  created  by  the  objecti^ 
fication  of  the  attributes  of  the  will,  attaches  to  the 
cerebral  psychism  only.  Consciousness  in  the  higher 
animals  and  man  is  bound  to  their  organic  representa- 
tion, it  is  born  and  dies  with  it. 

Death  brings  it  to  annihilation.  As  a  set-off,  thai 
which  is  the  essence  of  Being,  the  Will,  is  not  affected. 

*  When  we  lose  intellect  by  death,  we  are  thereby 
carried  back  into  the  primitive  state,  devoid  of 
knowledge,  but  not  absolutely  unconscious.  It  is 
doubtless  rather  a  state  superior  to  the  state  of 
unconsciousness,  in  which  the  distinction  between 
subject  and  object  disappears.  .  ,  . 

192 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

*  Death  shows  itself  openly  as  the  end  of  the 
individual;  but  in  this  individual  there  is  the  germ 
of  a  new  being.  Therefore  nothing  that  dies  in  it, 
dies  for  ever;  but  nothing  that  is  born  receives  an 
essentially  new  existence.  That  which  dies,  perishes ; 
but  a  germ  remains  whence  arises  a  new  life  which 
enters  on  existence  without  knowing  whence  it 
comes,  nor  why  it  is  what  it  is.  This  is  the  mystery 
of  palingenesis  (re-birth). 

*  The  human  being  may  therefore  be  considered 
from  either  of  two  opposite  points  of  view.  From 
the  first  he  is  an  individual  beginning  and  ending 
in  Time,  a  transitory  phenomenon.  .  .  .  From  the 
other  he  is  the  original  indestructible  being  which  is 
objectified  in  every  existing  person.  No  doubt  such 
a  being  could  do  better  than  manifest  himself  in  a 
world  like  this — a  finite  world  of  suffering  and 
death.  That  which  is  in  him  and  proceeds  from 
him  must  end  and  die.  But  that  which  never  leaves 
him  nor  desires  to  leave  him  goes  through  him  like 
a  lightning  stroke  and  then  knows  neither  Time 
nor  Death.'  ^ 

Thus,  then,  the  individual  consciousness,  like  the 
universe,  has  no  real  and  proper  existence.  It  is  a 
temporary  function  of  will.     It  is  born  of  the  will  to  live. 

And  the  will  to  live  is  the  consequence  of  an  unfor- 
tunate illusion  of  the  will. 


2. SCHOPENHAUER  S    PESSIMISM 

This  pessimism,  which  is  expressed  in  pages  of  great 
eloquence,  follows  with  rigorous  logic  on  his  premises. 

If  individualisation  and  consciousness  are  but  passing 
illusions  soon  to  disappear,  all  effort,  troubles,  and 
sufferings  end  in  nothing.     The  injustices  endured  are 

*  Schopenhauer :  Religion. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

without  compensations.  Life  is  objectless.  The  hopes 
of  religion  are  absurd,  since,  apart  from  their  dogmatic 
difficulties,  they  are  all  based  on  the  insensate  concept  that 
the  individual  soul,  a  thing  which  had  a  beginning, 
should  nevertheless  have  no  ending. 

There  is  therefore  no  hope,  neither  in  a  future  world, 
nor  in  this  present  one. 

The  will  to  live  does  but  engender  effort  without 
a  goal  and  suffering  without  result. 

*  In  considering  inanimate  nature  we  have  already 
recognised  as  its  inmost  essence  continuous,  object- 
less, reposeless  effort;  but  in  animals  and  man  the 
same  truth  is  even  more  obvious.  For  every  act 
of  willing  starts  from  a  need,  from  a  lack,  and  there- 
fore from  a  pain ;  it  is  therefore  a  necessity  of  nature 
that  the  creatures  should  be  a  prey  to  pain.  But 
when  will  comes  to  have  no  object,  when  prompt 
satisfaction  removes  all  motive  for  desire,  they  fall 
into  emptiness  and  weariness;  their  nature,  their 
mere  existence  weighs  on  them  intolerably.  Life 
then,  swings  like  a  pendulum  from  right  to  left, 
from  suffering  to  weariness:  and,  in  fine,  these  are 
the  two  elements  of  which  life  is  composed.  Hence 
comes  a  very  significant  fact,  the  more  significant 
by  its  strangeness — man,  having  placed  all  pain 
and  misery  in  hell,  has  found  nothing  to  put  in 
heaven  but  monotony! 

*  Now  this  incessant  effort,  which  is  fundamental 
to  all  forms  which  Will  puts  on,  finds  at  last,  at  the 
top  of  the  scale  of  its  objective  manifestations,  its 
real  general  principle;  there  Will  is  revealed  to 
itself  in  a  living  body  which  imposes  an  iron  law 
— to  provide  it  with  nourishment;  and  that  which 
enforces  this  law  is  just  the  will  to  live,  incarnate. 
.  .  .  Add  a  second  need,  which  the  first  brings  in 
its  train,  that  of  perpetuating  the  species.     At  the 

194 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

same  time  unending  perils  assail  man  from  all  sides, 
perils  from  which  he  escapes  only  by  perpetual 
watchfulness.  .  .  . 

*  For  the  most  part,  life  is  but  a  continuous 
struggle  for  mere  existence,  with  the  certainty  of 
being  defeated  in  the  end.  .  ,  .  Life  is  a  sea  full 
of  reefs  and  perils;  man,  by  dint  of  care  and  prudence 
avoids  them,  but  knows  all  the  while  that  his  success 
in  steering  between  them  by  skill  and  energy  does 
but  bring  him  nearer  to  the  great  total  and  final 
shipwreck,  for  he  cannot  escape  death.* 

Efforts,  sufferings,  and  death!  It  is  of  these  only 
that  will  acquires  knowledge,  and  it  is  for  these  that 
after  having  *  affirmed  itself,'  it  comes  to  negation. 
This  is  the  fruit  of  individual  existence. 

*  What  a  difference,*  exclaims  Schopenhauer, 
*  between  our  beginning  and  our  end.  Its  opening 
scenes  are  characterised  by  the  illusions  of  desire  and 
the  transports  of  voluptuousness;  its  close  by  the 
destruction  of  all  our  members  and  the  odour  of 
the  grave!  The  road  that  separates  these  is  a 
descending  slope  of  lessening  happiness  and  well- 
being  :  the  happy  dreams  of  childhood,  the  gaiety  of 
youth,  the  work  of  manhood,  the  decrepitude  of 
age,  the  tortures  of  the  last  illness  and  the  final 
struggle  with  death!  * 

The  pessimism  of  Schopenhauer  is  not  only  the 
logical  consequence  of  his  philosophic  premises;  it  is 
founded  also  on  a  clear  insight  into  life.  This  insight 
fills  him  with  an  immense  pity:  pity  for  the  animals 
which,  when  they  are  not  devoured  by  each  other,  suffer 
untold  miseries  in  '  a  hell  where  men  are  the  demons  1  * 
Pity  for  men,  whom  the  will  to  live  leads  to  trouble  and 
sufferings  not  compensated  for  by  sparse  pleasures 
which  are  mostly  illusory. 

How,  too,  should  man  take  pleasure  in  these  brief 

195 


From  the  TJnconsctous  to  the  Conscious 

joys  when  he  has  attained  consciousness  of  his  essential 
identity  with  a  world  in  which  evil  reigns  supreme? 
How  should  he  not  suffer  in  sympathy  with  the  vast  and 
general  pain  ? 

How  is  it  that  he  does  not  understand  that  the  will 
to  live  is  a  misfortune,  and  should  be  annulled  by  the 
abdication  of  desire  and  by  renunciation  of  the  illusory 
motives  with  which  intelligence  rocks  itself  to  sleep, 
in  order  to  find  a  sufficient  reason  for  living  ?  It  is 
only  by  attaining  to  this,  that  the  reason  for  life  and 
suffering  can  be  understood. 

The  sufferings  of  animals  are  explained  *  by  the 
fact  that  the  will  to  live,  finding  absolutely  nothing 
beyond  itself  in  the  world  of  phenomena,  and  being  a 
famished  will,  must  devour  its  own  flesh.'  For  the 
higher  consciousness  of  man  *  the  value  of  life  consists 
entirely  in  learning  not  to  desire  it.'  Existence  is 
nothing  but  a  kind  of  aberration  of  which  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  world  should  cure  us. 


3. VON    HARTMANN  S    SYSTEMATISATION 

Von  Hartmann  has  taken  up  Schopenhauer's  thesis, 
adding  thereto  certain  data  derived  from  the  natural 
sciences  and  psychology. 

Besides  and  above  the  causes  admitted  by  the 
mechanical  concept  of  nature,  he  finds  a  superior  principle 
which  he  calls  the  Unconscious.  The  Unconscious 
is  that  which  is  essential  and  Divine  in  the  universe. 
In  it  will  and  representation  exist  potentially.  Every- 
thing therefore  that  comes  into  realisation  does  so  by 
the  will  of  the  unconscious. 

In  evolution  the  unconscious  plays  the  primary  part: 
natural  selection  does  not  explain  the  origin  of  new 
forms :  it  is  but  a  means,  one  of  the  means  by  which  the 
unconscious  attains  its  ends. 

196 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  unconscious  has  the  predominant  part  in  the 
vital  phenomena  of  the  individual;  in  it  is  the  essence 
of  life;  it  forms  the  organism  and  maintains  it,  repairs 
internal  and  external  injuries,  and  is  the  ultimate  guide 
of  its  movements. 

It  plays  an  essential  part  in  psychological  phenomena. 
It  is  the  source  of  instincts,  of  intuition,  of  the  aesthetic 
sense,  and  of  creative  genius. 

Finally,  the  unconscious  is  the  basis  of  '  supernormal 
phenomenology,'  which  is  a  mere  manifestation  of  its 
divine  power,  independent  of  contingencies  relating  to 
time,  space,  psychological,  dynamic,  and  material  repre- 
sentations. 

For  Von  Hartmann,  as  for  Schopenhauer,  there  is  an 
abyss  between  the  unconscious  and  the  conscious. 

The  former  is  divine,  and  the  latter  purely  human. 

Nevertheless,  consciousness  (when  sufficiently 
developed)  permits  us  to  pass  judgment  on  the  universe 
and  on  life.  And  this  judgment  is  not  favourable. 
As  consciousness  is  both  ephemeral  and  unproductive, 
it  cannot  participate  in  the  divine  infinite. 

It  suffers  from  a  limitation  without  compensations 
and  without  hope,  from  many  painful  contingencies, 
more  painful  in  proportion  to  its  degree  of  development, 
in  individual  existence.  Its  last  resource  would  be  self- 
extinction;  but  perhaps  even  this  sacrifice  would  be 
useless,  as  the  indestructible  unconscious  creator  would 
no  doubt  recommence  another  evolution  destined  to  end 
in  the  same  conscious  realisation  with  the  same  desolating 
results. 


4. CRITICISMS    OF    THE    SPECIFIC    DISTINCTION    BETWEEN 

THE    CONSCIOUS    AND    THE    UNCONSCIOUS 

Two  things  strike  one  at  the  outset  in  the  systems 
of  Schopenhauer  and  von  Hartmann,  in  the  first  place 
the  clarity  of  the  reasoning  and  its  quasi-scientific  rigour; 

197  p 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

in  the  second,  the  pessimistic  conclusions  which  seem  to 
flow  naturally  and  of  necessity  from  it. 

This  conclusion  does,  in  fact,  necessarily  follow  if 
it  be  admitted,  as  Schopenhauer  and  von  Hartmann 
maintain,  that  there  is  an  impassable  abyss  and  an 
essential  difference  between  the  unconscious  and  the 
conscious. 

This  essential  difference  takes  away  all  ideal  purpose 
and  all  meaning  from  the  universe  and  from  life. 

And  while  the  other  postulates  of  the  German 
philosophers  are  deduced  with  mathematical  precision, 
the  alleged  essential  difference  between  the  unconscious 
and  the  conscious  rests  on  nothing. 

The  assimilation  of  consciousness  to  a  mere  *  repre- 
sentation *  is  not  logical. 

Why  should  consciousness  be  exclusively  bound  to 
the  temporary  semblances  which  make  up  the  universe  ? 

Why  should  not  all  that  falls  within  its  domain  be 
registered,  assimilated,  and  preserved  by  the  eternal 
essence  of  being  } 

What!  The  divine  principle,  the  will  or  the 
unconscious,  is  to  be  allowed  all  potentialities  except 
one,  and  that  the  most  important  of  all — the  power  to 
acquire  and  retain  the  knowledge  of  itself. 

How  much  more  logical  it  is  to  presume  that  this 
real  and  eternal  will  which  is  objectified  in  transitory 
and  factitious  personalities,  will  keep  integrally  the 
remembrances  acquired  during  these  objectifications, 
thus  by  numberless  experiences  passing  from  primitive 
unconsciousness  to  consciousness. 

Certainly  the  human  personality  which  covers  the 
period  from  birth  to  death  of  the  body  is  destined  to 
perish  and  to  have  an  end  as  it  had  a  beginning;  but 
the  real  *  individuality,'  that  which  is  the  essential  being, 
keeps  and  assimilates  to  itself,  deeply  graven  in  its 
memory,  all  states  of  consciousness  of  the  transitory 
personality. 

198 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

When,  conformably  to  the  paHngenesis  of  which 
Schopenhauer  speaks,  it  builds  up  another  living  per- 
sonality, it  brings  to  the  latter  all  its  permanent  gains, 
and  is  further  enriched  by  those  of  the  new  objectification. 

It  is  thus  that  the  will,  originally  unconscious, 
becomes  a  conscious  will. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  Schelling  and  Hegel,  whose 
systems  preceded  those  of  Schopenhauer  and  von 
Hartmann,  but  are  much  less  precise,  had  nevertheless 
declared  this  progress  from  the  unconscious  to  the 
conscious  and  had  drawn  idealist  and  optimist  conclusions 
from  it.  The  metaphysics  of  the  two  last-named 
philosophers  though  more  precise  and  better  supported 
from  the  scientific  point  of  view,  show  an  unfortunate 
regression  regarded  from  the  idealist  standpoint. 

Schelling's  universe  is  the  result  of  an  *  activity  * 
essentially  unconscious.  This  activity  becomes  at  least 
partially  self-conscious  in   man. 

For  Hegel  the  essential  unconscious  activity,  how- 
ever, possesses  some  kind  of  reason.  The  creation  which 
it  brings  into  existence  is  rational,  and  we  may  find 
in  evolution  and  the  progress  it  implies,  some 
reasonable  finality.  Thus  reason  gradually  grows 
into  consciousness.  Evolution  is  the  means  which 
the  universal  and  creative  reason  uses  to  acquire  self- 
consciousness. 

No  positive  objection  can  be  taken  to  this  concept, 
but  that  does  not  suffice  for  its  acceptance ;  it  is  necessary 
to  co-ordinate  it  with  facts. 

In  the  light  of  the  new  facts  the  errors,  the  contra- 
dictions, and  the  lacunae,  as  well  as  the  heartrending 
pessimism,  all  disappear.  These  new  facts  and  the 
inferences  they  carry  with  them,  allow  us  to  replace  the 
Philosophy  of  the  Unconscious  which,  though  marred 
by  these  errors  and  omissions,  is  a  truly  great  work  of 
genius,  by  another,  similar  indeed  in  its  premises  and 
its  essence,  but  leading  by  a  different  development  to 

TOO 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

conclusions  quite  other  than  the  pessimism  of  Schopen- 
hauer. 

Different  in  its  development,  because  it  takes  note 
of  all  the  available  facts,  and  conforming  strictly  to 
reason  while  avoiding  dogmatic  assertion,  it  assigns  a 
place  to  all  that  can  be  explained,  and  to  that  which 
necessarily  transcends  our  powers  of  understanding  and 
knowledge. 

Different  in  its  conclusions,  which  are  diametrically 
opposed  to  Schopenhauer's  distressing  pessimism,  because 
it  fills  in  the  artificial  chasm  which  he  has  made  between 
the  unconscious  and  the  conscious. 


BOOK  II 

FROM   THE   UNCONSCIOUS   TO   THE 
CONSCIOUS 

SKETCH     OF    A    RATIONAL     PHILOSOPHY    OF 
EVOLUTION    AND    OF   THE    INDIVIDUAL 


FOREWORD 

We  can  now  attempt  to  outline  a  general  theory  of 
collective  and  individual  evolution  based  on  all  facts 
at  present  known,  whether  of  the  naturalistic  or  the 
psychological  order,  and  on  the  deductions  they  involve. 
We  shall  also  draw  certain  inferences  that  are  strictly 
dependent  on  the  facts. 

We  shall  put  aside,  systematically,  everything  which 
pertains  to  pure  metaphysics:  the  question  of  God,  of 
the  Infinite,  of  the  Absolute,  of  beginning  and  end,  and 
of  the  essential  nature  of  things. 

We  shall  consider  only  what  it  is  permitted  to  us 
to  know  and  understand  on  the  destiny  of  the  world  and 
of  the  individual  according  to  the  degree  of  intuitive 
and  intellectual  faculty  which  evolution  has  actually 
attained. 

This  is  relatively  little,  but  it  is  much  more  than 
the  classical  naturalistic  philosophy  teaches. 

It  is  henceforward  possible  to  understand  the 
mechanism  and  the  general  trend  of  collective  and 
individual  evolution;  the  degree  to  which  individual 
consciousness  is  dependent  on,  or  independent  of,  the 
material  organism;    and  the  *  wherefore  *  of  Life. 

When  these  notions  are  clearly  established  they 
carry  with  them  a  lesson  of  idealism  which  is  no  longer 
vague,  but  precise,  and  is  based,  not  on  an  act  of  faith, 
nor  on  a  supposed  *  intuition,*  but  on  an  estimate  of 
probabilities. 

The  preliminary  limitation  which  we  have  here  laid 
down,  is  not  founded  on  the  old  and  obsolete  distinction 
between  '  the  knowable  and  the  unknowable,'  but  only 
on  the  verification  of  the  relative  incapacity  of  our 
actual  powers  of  knowing  and  understanding. 

203 


Foreword 

Strictly  speaking,  there  is  nothing  that  is  unknowable. 
That  which  is  called  the  region  of  the  unknowable  is 
continually  being  lessened  as  evolution  proceeds.  The 
simplest  metereological  laws  were  unknowable  to  our 
cave-dwelling  ancestors;  the  laws  of  gravitation,  the 
physical  constitution  of  the  stars,  and  the  origin  of  animal 
species  were  unknowable  before  the  development  of 
modern  science.  It  must  be  the  same  for  the  great 
laws  of  life  and  destiny,  whether  of  the  universe  or  of 
the  individual. 

As  for  the  problems  which  are  necessarily  still  above 
all  attempts  at  explanation,  they  can  be  resolutely  and 
systematically  put  aside;  they  will  constitute  the  philos- 
ophy of  a  more  highly  and  ideally  evolved  humanity. 

The  sacrifice  which  modern  scientific  philosophy 
makes  in  thus  limiting  its  aims  to  that  which  falls  within 
the  bounds  of  reason,  has  great  compensating  advantages. 

To  begin  with,  this  sacrifice,  resolutely  and  courage- 
ously accepted,  clears  out  of  bur  way  those  two  stones 
of  stumbling — ^mysticism  and  despondency — ^which  en- 
cumber the  path  of  idealism.  The  thinker  will  avoid 
mysticism,  for  he  will  be  able  to  avoid  that  intoxication 
of  the  personal  imagination  which  is  always  most 
luxuriant  when  dealing  with  the  subliminal.  He  will 
be  released  from  ancient  and  modern  forms  of  dogmatism, 
and  will  no  longer  look  for  a  Messiah  or  a  Magus  to 
guide  him,  nor  yield  to  the  puerile  attractions  of  so-called 
initiations  into  occult  mysteries. 

He  will  be  saved  from  despondency,  and  will  not 
be  led  to  say,  like  Herbert  Spencer,  who  has  paraphrased 
and  extended  a  celebrated  dictum  of  Pascal : — 

*  Then  comes  the  thought  of  this  universal  matrix, 
itself  anteceding  alike  creation  or  evolution,  whichever 
be  assumed,  and  infinitely  transcending  both,  alike  in 
extent  and  duration;  since  both,  if  conceived  at  all, 
must  be  conceived  as  having  had  beginnings,   while 

204 


Foreword 

Space  had  no  beginning.  The  thought  of  this  blank 
form  of  existence  which,  explored  in  all  directions  as 
far  as  imagination  can  reach,  has,  beyond  that,  an 
unexplored  region  compared  with  which  the  part  which 
imagination  has  traversed  is  but  infinitesimal — ^the 
thought  of  a  Space  compared  with  which  our  immeasur- 
able sidereal  system  dwindles  to  a  point,  is  a  thought 
too  overwhelming  to  be  dwelt  upon.  Of  late  years 
the  consciousness  that  without  origin  or  cause  infinite 
Space  has  ever  existed  and  must  ever  exist,  produces 
in  me  a  feeling  from  which  I  must  shrink.'  ^ 

The  mental  vertigo  produced  by  consideration  of 
the  Infinite  and  the  Absolute  does  not  affect  the  philoso- 
pher who  has  clearly  recognised  the  actual  limitations 
of  his  work.  On  the  contrary,  he  finds  serenity  of  mind 
in  resignation  to  these  limitations,  and  to  the  wholesome 
and  fruitful  discipline  which  they  impose  upon  him. 
This  sacrifice  has  also  the  supreme  advantage  of  ruling 
out  all  those  vain  and  pretentious  discussions,  the  sterile 
formulae  and  contradictory  systems,  by  which  the  highest 
minds  have  entered  the  lists  against  each  other.  All 
such  systems  have  now  only  a  historical  or  a  literary 
interest. 

This  resignation  to  the  actual  limitations  of 
human  intelligence  enables  him  to  dispense  altogether 
with  metaphysical  entities — *  the  Thing  in  Itself,'  '  non- 
Being,*  '  Will,*  *  the  Unconscious,'  *  Duration,*  etc., 
etc. — which  in  the  end  are  but  empty  words. 

For  these  factitious  entities  and  pure  abstractions 
we  propose  to  substitute  a  concrete  thing — ^the  notion 
of  an  essential  concrete  dynamo-psychism,  which  can 
be  verified  as  a  reality,  even  though  its  metaphysical 
nature  cannot  be  formulated,  and  though  research  into 
its  metaphysical  essence  may  even  be  inadvisable. 

To  this  concept,  the  objection  will  at  once  be  made 

*  Herbert  Spencer  :   Facts  and  Comments  (1902.    Ultiinate  Questions). 

205 


Foreword 

that  this  essential  dynamo-psychism,  by  the  very  fact 
that  it  is  something  concrete  and  conceivable  and  that 
we  can  in  a  measure  understand  it,  is  no  longer  the 
thing  in  itself,  abstracted  from  all  representation,  which 
is,  as  Kant  finally  proved,  essentially  inconceivable. 

We  reply  that  the  same  objection  can  be  raised 
against  all  systems  based  on  the  distinction  between  the 
divine  essence  of  the  universe  and  its  phenomenal 
manifestations.  Schopenhauer  thought  to  elude  this 
difficulty  by  making  the  Thing  in  Itself  a  *  Will ' 
unconscious  of  itself,  having  neither  substratum  nor  cause 
nor  end,  because  it  is  *  outside  the  realm  of  pure  reason.* 
Thus  deprived  of  all  attributes  the  *  Will,'  which  knows 
not  what  it  wills,  nor  how,  nor  why  it  wills,  nor  even 
the  fact  of  its  willing,  is  an  abstraction  as  inconceivable 
as  the  *  Thing  in  Itself.* 

Hartmann's  Unconscious  is  more  conceivable  simply 
because  our  understanding  naturally,  spontaneously,  and 
necessarily,  attributes  to  the  unconscious  a  concrete 
substratxmi,  and  makes  of  it  the  very  thing  that  we 
here  unequivocally  advance — an  unconscious  dynamo- 
psychism. 

This  dynamo-psychism  also  is,  if  we  will  have  it 
so,  a  *  representation,*  but  it  is  the  only  means  by  which 
we  can  understand  *  the  nature  of  things.'  For  a  relative 
intelligence  to  endeavour  to  understand  the  Absolute 
is,  we  must  always  remember,  to  limit  the  Absolute. 

What  does  it  matter  that  the  thing  in  itself  should  be 
inaccessible  to  us  }  We  can  at  least  reach  it  under  a 
first  limitation.  Under  the  immeasurable  variety  of 
transitory  and  phenomenal  appearances  which  constitute 
the  physical,  dynamic,  and  intellectual  universe,  there 
is  one  essential,  permanent,  and  real  dynamo-psychism. 
Its  immanent  activity  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  immense 
series  of  facts  which  evolution  presents ;  and  Evolution 
itself  is,  as  we  shall  see,  nothing  else  than  the  transition 
from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness. 

206 


Foreword 

The  two  bases  and  primordial  postulates  of  the 
philosophy  which  this  second  part  of  our  work  will 
set  forth  and  sustain,  are  the  following: — 

1.  That  which  is  essential  in  the  universe  and  the 

individual  is  a  single  *  dynamo-psychism  *  primi- 
tively unconscious  but  having  in  itself  all 
potentialities,  the  innumerable  and  diverse 
appearances  of  things  being  always  its  repre- 
sentations. 

2.  The    essential    and    creative    dynamo-psychism 

passes  by  evolution  from  unconsciousness  to 
consciousness. 

These  two  propositions  rest  on  facts.  They  can 
to-day  be  made  subjects  of  exact  demonstration,  first 
in  the  individual,  and  can  then,  by  an  extended  induction 
be  referred  to  the  universe. 


PART  I 

THE  INDIVIDUAL,   AND   INDIVIDUAL 
EVOLUTION 

OR 

TJ^IE  TRANSITION  FROM  UNCONSCIOUSNESS 

TO   CONSCIOUSNESS   IN  THE 

INDIVIDUAL 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  INDIVIDUAL  CONCEIVED  OF  AS  AN  ESSENTIAL  DYNAMO- 
PSYCHISM    AND    AS    REPRESENTATION 

I. ^THE    SCIENTIFIC    BASIS    OF   THIS    CONCEPT.^ 

Our  physiological  study  of  the  individual,  starting  from 
all  known  facts,  has  demonstrated  the  distinction  between 
his  essential  and  real  dynamo-psychism  and  its  visible 
representations. 

We  have  established  by  those  facts,  the  illusory 
nature  of  the  appearances  on  which  the  general  concept 
of  classical  physiology  is  built — the  concept  of  the 
living  being  as  a  simple  cellular  complex,  organising 
itself  by  means  of  specifically  distinct  tissues,  and  having 
in  itself  the  reason  for  its  being,  its  origin,  and  its  end, 
the  cause  for  its  form,  its  mechanism,  and  its  functions; 
all  these  properties  arising  only  by  heredity  from 
generative  cells. 

At  the  outset  we  have  shown  that  it  is  not  possible 
to  find  the  cause  of  specific  form,  nor  the  origin,  the 
essential  cause,  nor  the  purposes  of  its  different  modes 
of  activity,  either  in  the  organism  itself  or  in  the  fact  of 
its  cellular  association. 

We  have  been  obliged  to  admit  that  the  corporeal 
form  is  but  a  temporary  illusion ;  that  organs  and  tissues 
have  no  absolute  specificity;  that  these  organs  and 
tissues,  even  though  proceeding  from  the  single  prim- 
ordial substance  of  the  ovum,  can  even  in  this  life  be 
disintegrated  into  a  unique  primordial  substance,  which 

^  The  whole  of  this  and  succeeding  chapters  are  closely  connected 
with  the  physiological  and  psychological  demonstrations  of  Book  I. 
They  will  not  be  understood  apart  from  this  connection. 

211 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

can  then  reorganise  itself  into  new  and  distinct  forms 
and  build  up  temporarily  different  and  distinct  organs 
and  tissues.^ 

In  a  word,  we  have  been  compelled  to  surrender  to 
the  evidence,  that  the  body,  the  organic  complex,  has 
neither  definitive  and  absolute  qualities  nor  a  specificity 
proper  to  itself.  Its  origin,  its  development,  its  embryonic 
and  post-embryonic  metamorphoses,  its  normal  functions 
and  supernormal  potentialities,  the  maintenance  of  its 
normal  form,  and  the  possibilities  of  metapsychic 
dematerialisation  and  re-materialisations,  all  show  that 
this  organism  is  separable  from  a  superior  dynamism 
which  conditions  it. 

It  no  longer  appears  as  the  whole  individual,  but  as 
an  ideoplastic  product  of  that  which  is  essential  in  the 
individual — a  dynamo-psychism  which  conditions  all, 
and  essentially  is  all. 

In  philosophic  language,  the  organism  is  not  the 
individual;    it  is  but  his  representation. 

By  this  concept  all  the  physiology  of  the  physical 
being  and  all  its  normal  or  so-called  supernormal 
capacities  can  be  understood;  whereas,  without  this 
concept  the  most  familiar  organic  functions  and  the 
most  unexpected  phenomena  of  mediumship  are  alike 
mysterious. 

In  reality  there  is  neither  normal  nor  supernormal 
physiology.  All  is  limited  by  representations;  some 
usual,  some  exceptional,  both  equally  conditioned  by  the 
essential  dynamo-psychism  which  is  the  reality.  If 
embryonic  metamorphoses  and  the  histolysis  of  the 
insect  seem  to  us  mysterious ;  if  the  interpenetration  of 
solid  matter  by  other  solid  matter,  and  organic  materiali- 
sations and  dematerialisations  seem  impossible,  this  is 
only  because  we  attribute  final  reality  to  the  characteristics 
and  properties  by  which  we  represent  matter  to  our- 
selves.    If,  on  the  contrary,  we  understand  that  these 

»  Vide  Part  I.,  Chapter  II. 
212 


Vrom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

characteristics  and  properties  are  factitious  and  unreal,  the 
mystery  and  the  impossibility  disappear;  or  become 
merely  correlatives  of  our  ignorance  and  weakness. 
The  changes  presented  by  both  normal  and  supernormal 
physiology  have  no  other  philosophical  meaning  than 
changes  in  the  external  appearance  of  things.  The 
causality  which  makes  them  what  they  are,  and  the 
explanation  by  which  they  are  understood,  lie  in  the 
dynamo-psychism  which  conditions  them. 

What  is  true  in  this  matter  from  the  physiological 
point  of  view,  is  even  more  decisively  true  from  the 
psychological  standpoint :  the  supernormal  only  becomes 
comprehensible  when  we  distinguish  the  essential 
dynamo-psychism  from  its  representations.  In  order 
to  conceive  of  the  possibility  of  action  from  mind  to 
mind  it  is  necessary  first  to  admit  the  reality  of  a  superior 
psychic  mechanism  (psychism)  detached  from  the  usual 
contingencies  which  pertain  to  psychological  representa- 
tions. 

In  order  that  vision  at  a  distance  beyond  the  range 
of  the  senses,  or  the  lucidity  which  presents  the  past, 
the  present,  or  the  future,  may  no  longer  seem  incredible 
miracles,  it  is  indispensable  that  we  should  first  under- 
stand that  time  and  space  are  but  the  means  of  our 
representations  and  are  as  artificial  and  illusory  as  the 
representations  themselves. 

Thus  the  concept,  which  has  found  its  best  expression 
in  the  works  of  Schopenhauer,^  must  henceforth  quit 
the  realm  of  metaphysics  for  that  of  science. 

That  which  is  real  and  permanent  in  the  individual, 
which  Schopenhauer  called  Will,  we  designate  as 
essential  dynamo-psychism,  and  the  distinction  between 
this  and  its  temporary  representations  is  founded  on 
facts.     At  least  everything  occurs  as  if  this  were  so. 

*  Schopenhauer  had  ahready  seen  the  importance  of  the  phenomena 
known  as  supernormal  to  his  metaphysical  scheme.  (Parerga  and 
ParaUpomena.) 

SZ3  Q 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

We  can  now  make  a  step  forward  in  our  search 
for  truth;  and,  keeping  steadily  to  facts  and  within 
the  limits  of  the  possible,  we  can  distinguish  that  which 
belongs  to  the  essential  dynamo-psychism  in  the  individual 
from  that  which  pertains  to  its  representation. 


2. THE    INDIVIDUAL    CONSIDERED    AS    REPRESENTATIONS 

Schopenhauer,  adopting  the  biological  ideas  then 
current,  laid  down  a  very  simple  concept  of  individuality. 
Apart  from  his  metaphysical  theory,  his  concept  was 
in  accord  with  the  materialist  thesis  which  taught  that 
the  organism  is  the  individual.  To  this  Schopenhauer 
added  that  *  the  individual  is  Will  objectified  in  an 
organism  * ;  and  he  regarded  the  organism  as  the  unique 
individual  representation  of  that  will.  For  Schopen- 
hauer, as  for  the  materialistic  physiologists,  the  organism 
— that  unique  representation — contains  within  itself  all 
manifestations  of  individual  activity,  and  these  remain 
strictly  within  the  limits  of  time  and  space  which 
condition  the  body.  They  are  born  and  die  with  the 
individual,  and  cannot  transcend  the  range  of  his 
physical  and  sensorial  capacities.  His  psychism  is  the 
pure  and  simple  product  of  the  activity  of  his  nerve- 
centres.  The  consciousness  that  belongs  to  him  is  a 
function  of  that  activity.  All  the  attributes  of  the 
individual  are  passing  and  ephemeral  attributes  created 
by  the  objectification  of  *  will  *  in  an  organised 
being. 

This  concept  of  Schopenhauer's  was  in  agreement 
with  the  biological  knowledge  of  his  day.  It  is  so  no 
longer.  The  facts  now  known  traverse  this  simple  aspect 
of  the  individual;  they  prove  that  individual  activity 
may  surpass  the  limits  and  the  framework  of  the  organism. 
They   prove,   in   philosophic  language,   that   there  are 

214 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

in  the  individual  *  representations  *  of  the  creative 
dynamo-psychism  which  differ  from  the  organism  itself, 
are  superior  to  that  organism  and  condition  it,  in  place 
of  being  conditioned  by  it. 

In  fact,  as  we  shall  show,  everything  occurs  as  if 
the  essential  dynamo-psychism  objectified  itself  to  create 
the  individual,  not  in  one  unique  representation — the 
organism — but  in  a  series  of  graded  representations 
successively  conditioning  one  another. 

In  treating  of  physiology  we  have  seen  that  the 
organism  is  directed  by  an  organising,  directing,  and 
centralising  dynamism  able  to  act  outside  the  organism, 
to  disintegrate  it  and  reconstitute  it  in  new  and  distinct 
forms.  Therefore  we  can,  and  should,  conclude  that 
the  organic  representation  is  itself  conditioned  by  a 
higher  representation — the  vital  dynamism.^ 

Physiology,  considered  by  itself  alone,  does  not 
admit  of  any  other  inference. 

But  the  study  of  the  psychology  of  the  individual 
allows  of  new  and  larger  ideas. 

These  ideas  may  be  summed  up  as  follows. 

The  semblances,  according  to  which  the  psycho- 
logical individuality  would  seem  to  be  merely  the  sum 
of  the  consciousness  of  its  neurons  and  its  cerebral 
psychism,  are  false. 

In  reality  the  cerebral  psychism,  like  that  of  the 
whole  organism,  has  its  origin,  its  ends,  and  its  most 
intimate  conditions  of  function,  in  a  superior  dynamo- 
psychism,  which  is,  for  the  most  part,  subconscious.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  that  in  the  psychological  indi- 
viduality there  is  a  superior  psychism  independent  of  the 
functioning  of  the  nerve-centres  and  free  of  all  organic 
contingencies,  and  that  this  superior  psychism  forms 
the  very  foundation  of  the  living  being;  it  centralises 
and  directs  the  psychic  whole;    it  binds  together  all 

1  Schopenhauer  admitted  the  existence  of  a  'vital  force'  but  he  did 
not  make  it  a  distinct  and  superior  objectifiication. 

215 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

present  states  of  consciousness  by  an  activity,  which  is 
immanent  though  mostly  latent,  and  links  them  to  the 
past  by  its  cryptic  memory;  in  fine,  it  possesses  the 
so-called  supernormal  faculties. 

If  we  would  express  the  new  psycho-physiological 
<^oncept  in  philosophical  terms,  we  must  say  that  the 
organic  representation,  far  from  constituting  the  whole 
individual,  is  only  the  lower  and  coarser  objectification  of 
his  essential  dynamo-psychism.  Above  the  organic 
representation  (i.e.  the  organism)  and  conditioning  it,  is 
a  superior  representation — the  *  vital  dynamism.'  Above 
the  representations  known  as  the  *  organism  *  and  the 
*  vital  dynamism  *  there  is  a  third  and  yet  higher  repre- 
sentation belonging  to  the  mental  order. 

These  concepts  are  not  new.  Pythagoras  and 
Aristotle  distinguished  between  the  body  and  the  vital 
dynamism  which  they  called  the  psych  ^,  and  between 
the  psyche  and  the  mental  dynamo-psychism  which  they 
called  the  Nous.  Similarly  animists  and  spiritualists  of 
the  old  school  admitted  analogous  categories.  But 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new 
ideas.  In  the  first  place  the  new  idea  is  based  on  facts 
and  demonstrated  by  facts.  As  we  shall  see  more  clearly 
in  the  sequel,  it  rests  also  upon  reasoning — everything 
occurs  as  though  things  were  thus. 

Then  further,  the  new  idea  does  not  imply  differences 
of  essence  between  the  body,  the  vital  dynamism,  and 
the  mental  dynamo-psychism.  All  are  graded  representa- 
tions of  the  same  essential  principle.  Their  differences 
are  only  in  degree  of  evolution,  of  activity,  and  of 
realisation. 

But  this  cannot  be  fully  understood  till  we  have 
completed  our  study  of  the  Self.  Let  us  therefore  put 
aside  for  the  moment  the  analysis  of  the  representations, 
and  pass  on  to  the  investigation  of  the  Self  considered 
as  essentially  a  dynamo-psychism. 

216 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


3. THE    SELF     CONSIDERED    AS     ESSENTIALLY    A    DYNAMO- 

PSYCHISM 

Is  the  Self  distinct  from  its  representations  ?  Where 
is  the  Self  apart  from  its  representations  ?  Until  now 
the  answers  to  these  questions  could  only  be  of  a  meta- 
physical nature. 

Let  us  consult  the  facts  alone  and  see  what  they 
tell  us. 

Taking  into  account  only  facts  the  question  takes 
shape  as  follows. 

Is  the  Self,  as  taught  by  classical  psychology,  the 
sum  of  the  states  of  consciousness,  or  is  it  separable  ? 
Can  it  be  conceived  of  as  separate  from  those  states  of 
consciousness  } 

We  shall  see  that  the  answer  is  not  in  doubt — the 
Self  is  not  to  be  confused  with  states  of  consciousness. 
But  a  certain  effort  is  needful  before  this  can  be  under- 
stood. We  can  admit  without  much  difficulty  that  the 
Self  cannot  be  identified  with  the  material  body,  but 
it  is  much  more  difficult  not  to  identify  it  with  the 
mentality.  It  is  much  less  easy  to  distinguish  oneself 
from  the  mental,  than  from  the  organic  representation. 
This  can  be  done  only  by  modifying  our  habitual  and 
inveterate  intellectual  habits,  and  by  applying  the  whole 
power  of  reason  to  get  beyond  the  Cartesian  axiom — 
*  I  think,  therefore  I  am,'  and  to  admit  another — *  I 
am,  even  apart  from  my  thoughts;  they  represent  me, 
but  my  mental  representations  are  not  the  whole  of 
Myself.' 

Nevertheless  facts  prove  that  nothing  is  more  certain. 
The  induction  is  exact  :  if  the  Self  were  but  the  sum  of 
states  of  consciousness  it  would  be  incomprehensible 
how,  these  states  of  consciousness  being  intact,  the 
Self,  which  is  by  the  hypothesis  their  synthesis,  could 
lose  that  which  is  most  essential  and  important — the 

217 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

notion  of  its  unity  and  the  possibility  of  control  over 
the  psychic  whole.  Now  it  is  a  commonplace  fact  that 
this  integrity  of  states  of  consciousness  coexists  with 
the  disappearance  of  the  synthetic  unity  and  the  central- 
ising directive  power. 

The  diminution  or  the  disappearance  of  control 
by  the  Self  is  the  fundamental  fact  in  all  supernormal 
psychology  and  of  all  the  psychological  anomalies  which 
nevertheless  coexist  with  the  unimpaired  anatomo- 
physiological  condition  of  the  nerve-centres. 

Whether  we  consider  a  pure  neurosis  such  as  hysteria, 
or  insanity,  or  double  personality,  or  mediumship,  the 
first  fact  observed  is  always  the  disappearance  of  the 
control  and  centralising  direction  of  the  Self.  In  hysteri- 
form  disturbances  and  in  dementia,  the  states  of  con- 
sciousness are  intact  and  remain  so  for  long  periods; 
the  faculties,  taken  separately,  are  not  affected — memory, 
imagination,  feelings,  etc.  .  .  .  are  the  same,  but  the 
central  direction  is  replaced  by  anarchy  or  polyarchy. 

In  hypnosis,  double  personality  and  mediumship, 
we  find  that  faculties  and  knowledge,  and  the  most  varied 
states  of  consciousness — in  fact  all  the  mental  sequences 
— persist  integrally.  But  here  also  the  habitual  central 
direction  by  the  Self  has  disappeared  and  is  replaced 
by  a  heterogeneous  direction.  In  a  word,  the  states 
of  consciousness,  faculties,  and  knowledge  can  be 
dissociated  and  separated  from  that  which  is  essential 
in  the  Self — the  consciousness  of  its  unity  and  reality. 

Therefore  the  Self  is  distinct  from  the  constituent 
states  which  represent  it. 

The  most  typical  phenomenon  from  this  point  of 
view  is  that  of  alterations  of  personality.  These  modi- 
fications of  the  personality  prove  two  things : — 

I.  The  existence  of  mental  groups  of  stratification, 
as  Jastrow^  puts  it,  constituting  as  many 
subconscious  formations. 

*  Jastrow  :   La  Subconscience. 
2l8 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

2.  The  existence  of  a  centralising  psychic  direction 
of  these  mental  groups,  since  it  is  precisely  the 
failure  and  the  want  of  this  central  direction 
that  is  the  basis  and  sine  qua  non  for  alter- 
ations of  personality  and  for  the  appearance  of 
secondary  states. 

Jastrow  says,  *  When  the  dominant  Self  abandons 
any  considerable  part  of  its  sovereignty,  it  may  be  that 
the  organised  activities  are  freed.*  ...  It  is  then  seen 
that  *  the  altered  Self  maintains  relations  so  special,  so 
incomplete,  and  so  indirect,  with  the  normal  Self,  that 
we  must  admit  that  the  mind  is  dissociated.  The  psychic 
autocracy  is  overthrown  and  gives  place  to  an  enfeebled 
rule  exercising  power  over  a  reduced  area.^  * 

To  sum  up :  The  real  Self  conditions  and  directs  the 
mental  dynamo-psychism. 

Therefore  that  which  is  essential  in  the  Self  must 
not  be  confounded  with  subordinate  and  secondary 
states  of  consciousness. 

As  in  the  organism,  so  in  the  mentality  the  per- 
manent essence  must  be  distinguished  from  temporary 
'  representations.'  The  states  of  consciousness  are  but 
representations  of  the  Self.  But  the  Self — an  individual- 
ised portion  of  the  universal  dynamo-psychism — cannot 
be  confounded  with  its  representations. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  further  proof  of  this  assertion. 
Facts  show  that  there  are  in  the  Self  capacities  which 
outrange  the  limits  of  states  of  consciousness  and 
dominate  all  its  representations. 

Intuition  and  creative  genius  very  greatly  transcend 
the  intellectual  faculties.  In  these  there  is  nothing  like 
the  linked  sequences  which  mark  logical  deductions, 
they  are  superior  faculties,  deriving  evidently  from  the 
divine  essence  of  the  Self. 

Still  more  obviously  the  supernormal  psychic  faculties, 
and    more    especially   lucidity    (which    is    independent 

2  Italics  are  mine,  G.  G. 
219 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  all  contingencies)  cannot  be  attributed  to  the 
intellect. 

Therefore,  once  more,  the  real  and  essential  Self  is 
distinct  from  the  states  of  consciousness  and  the  mental 
processes  which  represent  it  at  any  moment. 

But  it  will  be  said: — *so  be  it;  but  what  are  we  to 
understand  by  the  real  Self  apart  from  its  representations  } 

*  Is  it  the  Creative  Essence,  Will,  the  Unconscious, 
the  essential  dynamo-psychism  (the  name  matters  little), 
but  is  it  the  Creative  Essence  devoid  of  any  individuali- 
sation,  acquiring  this  individualisation  only  in  and  by 
representations,  and  losing  it  when  these  representations 
cease  ? 

*  Is  it  a  part  of  the  essential  dynamo-psychism  which 
retains  individualisation,  remembrance,  and  self-con- 
sciousness even  after  the  cessation  of  the  representations 
which  it  has  passed  through  }  * 

To  answer  this  question,  let  us  consider  the  second 
part  of  our  demonstration,  viz.,  that  the  essential 
dynamo-psychism  passes  by  individual  evolution  from 
unconsciousness  to  consciousness. 


CHAPTER  II 

IN  INDIVIDUAL  EVOLUTION  THE  ESSENTIAL  DYNAMO- 
PSYCHISM  PASSES  FROM  UNCONSCIOUSNESS  TO  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 

Up  to  this  point  our  demonstration  has  been  rigorously 
scientific  and  rests  entirely  on  facts,  or  on  inferences 
closely  following  on  the  facts.  In  that  which  follows 
we  shall  be  obliged,  though  keeping  to  the  same  method, 
to  allow  a  slightly  larger  margin  for  hypothesis.  But 
we  must  ask  the  reader  to  hold  judgment  in  suspense 
till  the  whole  theory  developed  in  this  work  has  been 
completed.  None  of  its  details  should  be  considered 
separately  or  apart  from  the  general  synthesis.  This 
synthesis,  as  we  shall  see  further  on,  is  such  that,  as  a 
whole,  it  appeals  with  all  the  weight  of  truth. 

For  Schopenhauer  and  von  Hartmann  consciousness 
is  inseparable  from  its  representations.  Between  the 
conscious,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  will  or  the  uncon- 
scious on  the  other,  there  is,  according  to  them,  an  abyss 
which  cannot  be  filled;  there  is  an  essential  differen- 
tiation. 

We  desire  to  establish  on  the  contrary: — 

1 .  That  there  is  no  such  abyss  between  the  conscious 

and  the  unconscious,  for,  in  the  individual,  they 
constantly  interpenetrate  and  mutually  condition 
each  other. 

2.  That  there  is  an  uninterrupted  transition  from 

unconsciousness  to  consciousness ;  and  that  the 
primitive  unconsciousness  tends  more  and  more 
to  become  conscious  by  an  undefined  and 
uninterrupted  evolution. 

221 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


I. THE      CONSCIOUS      AND      THE      UNCONSCIOUS      INTER- 
PENETRATE AND   MUTUALLY  CONDITION  EACH   OTHER 

To  consider  the  Unconscious  first: — 

In  the  analytical  study  of  its  constituent  elements 
we  find  some  that  are  innate,  which  we  shall  consider 
further  on,  and  some  that  are  acquired.  These  latter 
were  at  first  conscious;  then  they  passed  from  the 
field  of  consciousness  into  subconsciousness  and  became 
cryptomnesic.  Part  of  the  subconscious  cryptomnesia 
is  made  up  of  former  states  of  consciousness.  There 
is,  therefore,  a  current  setting  continually  from  the 
conscious  to  the  unconscious. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  Conscious: — 

In  the  analytical  study  of  its  constituent  elements 
we  found  that  there  are  acquired  elements  which  we 
know  well,  and  innate  elements  which  are  more  obscure. 
These  latter  are  at  first  subconscious,  then  they  pass 
from  the  field  of  subconsciousness  and  become  conscious; 
from  being  cryptopsychic  they  become  psychic. 

Thus  the  very  structure  of  the  conscious  being — his 
essential  character — is  made  up  of  subconscious  capacities. 

The  conscious  psychism  is  therefore  in  main  part 
constituted  by  the  subconscious  which  conditions  and 
directs  it.  There  is  therefore  a  continuous  current 
setting  from  the  unconscious  to  the  conscious. 

In  fine,  there  is  a  double,  reciprocal,  and  continuous 
influence  from  the  unconscious  to  the  conscious,  and  vice 
versa — a  complete  interpenetration. 

Not  only  is  there  no  impassable  abyss,  but  the 
connection  is  close  and  direct. 

In  conditioning  the  conscious  the  unconscious 
partly  loses  its  character  of  unconsciousness,  and  acts 
not  as  unconsciousness  but  as  a  cryptoid  consciousness, 
sometimes  active,  sometimes  latent. 

In    its    turn    the    conscious    partly   conditions    the 

222 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

unconscious  by  pouring  into  it  the  stream  of  psycho- 
logical acquisitions.  Finally,  these  acquisitions,  once 
conscious  and  now  become  subconscious,  may,  under 
favourable  conditions,  re-emerge  into  consciousness. 

What  are  we  to  conclude  ?     Simply  this : — 

That  which  we  in  daily  experience  call  *  conscious- 
ness *  is  but  a  part  of  the  conscious — the  part  immediately 
accessible  within  the  given  limits  of  time  and  space; 
but  a  large  part  of  the  conscious  normally  remains 
latent. 

That  which  we  in  daily  experience  call  *  unconscious- 
ness *  is  but  a  part  of  the  unconscious,  of  the  true 
unconscious — that  which  remains  inaccessible  and 
unfathomable.  The  greater  part  of  the  unconscious 
rises  daily  into  consciousness;  it  makes  that  conscious- 
ness and  directs  it.  It  is  not  even  occult,  it  is  merely 
anonymous :  its  activity  from  day  to  day  is  constant  and 
cryptoid. 

From  this  point  our  demonstration  will  proceed 
easily. 


2. THE       UNCONSCIOUS       OR       SUBCONSCIOUS       DYNAMO- 

PSYCHISM   TENDS  TO    BECOME  A  CONSCIOUS    DYNAMO- 
PSYCHISM 

The  leading  proposition  may  be  established  by  a 
reasoned  study  of  the  individual  psychism. 

Analysis  of  the  higher  subconsciousness  permits  us 
to  distinguish  in  it  two  main  categories  of  powers  and 
knowledge. 

{a)  The  first  category  has  no  analogy  in  conscious 
powers  and  conscious  knowledge.  It  includes 
the  so-called  supernormal  faculties,  which  are 
creative  and  are  able  to  bring  to  the  living  being 
knowledge  independently  of  his  habitual  means 
of  cognisance  and  understanding. 
223 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

This  category,  this  portion  of  the  Self,  necessarily 
remains  mysterious;  it  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the 
unconscious,  and  brings  the  individual  into  touch  with 
that  which  is  divine  in  the  universe.  It  eludes  investi- 
gation by  reason,  and  is  incapable  of  any  complete 
interpretation. 

Q?)  The  second  category  includes  those  faculties 
and  that  knowledge  which  are  essentially 
analogous  to  the  conscious  faculties  and  know- 
ledge, differing  from  them  only  by  variety  and 
extent.  This  category  is  more  easily  inter- 
preted. 

We  can  verify  ir  the  first  place  that  it  is  composed 
partly  of  psychological  experiences  acquired  consciously 
or  even  unknown  to  ourselves,  which  have  passed, 
integrally,  below  the  threshold  of  consciousness. 

Everything  occurs  as  though  the  multitude  of  daily 
experiences  had  as  their  end  or  their  result,  an  uninter- 
rupted enrichment  of  our  subconsciousness  during  the 
whole  of  life. 

No  remembrance,  no  vital  or  psychological  experience 
is  lost.  In  the  course  of  life  the  organism  undergoes 
immense  modifications,  and  is  doubtless  renewed  several 
times  molecule  by  molecule.  States  of  consciousness  all 
more  or  less  different,  succeed  one  another.  A  life  is 
really  made  up  of  a  series  of  lives;  the  life  of  infancy, 
of  childhood,  of  adolescence,  of  adult  age  and  of  old 
age;  quite  distinct  lives  though  united  by  a  substructure 
common  to  them  all. 

These  successive  lives  are  more  or  less  affected  by 
seemingly  complete  oblivion,  so  that  for  the  living  being 
they  are  like  so  many  partial  deaths. 

But  throughout  the  renovation  of  organic  molecules, 
and  of  renewed  states  of  consciousness,  there  persists  a 
deep,  superior  psychism  which  has  registered  these  states 
of  consciousness  and  retains  them  indelibly. 

They  are  therefore  not  lost  though  they  are  in  great 

224 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

part  latent.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  subconscious 
psychism  which  is  thus  enriched  throughout  life,  by  all 
these  states  of  consciousness,  does  not  merely  register 
them,  it  also  assimilates  them. 

All  conscious  acquisitions  are  assimilated  and  transmuted 
into  faculties.  This  is  noticeable  in  the  course  of  existence. 
The  being  *  develops,*  and  acquires  new  or  extended 
powers  of  feeling,  knowing,  and  understanding.  Psycho- 
logical progress  can  be  the  result  only  of  this  transmuta- 
tion of  knowledges  into  faculties.  And  this  transmutation 
is  subconscious.  It  does  not  take  place  among  the 
unstable  and  ephemeral  cerebral  molecules;  it  necessi- 
tates a  deep-seated  and  continuous  elaboration  in  the 
essential  and  permanent  part  of  the  being;  that  is,  in 
his  subconscious  dynamo-psychism. 

Thus  the  perpetual  disintegration  of  the  conscious 
personality  is  of  small  importance.  The  permanent 
subconscious  individuality  retains  the  indelible  remem- 
brance of  all  the  states  of  consciousness  which  have  built 
it  up.  From  these  states  of  consciousness  which  it  has 
assimilated  it  constructs  new  capacities. 

During  the  course  of  life  the  individual  subcon- 
sciousness has  made  a  new  stride  towards  consciousness. 

We  have  henceforth  a  firm  basis  whence  to  proceed 
higher  and  further  in  our  discovery  of  truth. 

Cryptopsychism  is  only  in  minor  part  composed  of 
the  experiences  of  this  present  life.  The  greater  part 
is  inborn.     Whence  does  this  come  ? 

The  most  natural  and  reasonable  hypothesis  is  that 
which  is  based  on  facts.  Since  cryptopsychism  and 
cryptomnesia  are  both  partially  constructed  out  of  daily 
experiences  which  have  passed  into  the  subconsciousness 
which  they  enrich,  it  is  legitimate  to  infer  that  they  are 
entirely  constructed  from  past  experiences. 

Since  then  in  the  course  of  our  existence  we  find 
the  origin  of  a  part  only  of  the  contents  of  subconscious- 
ness, it  is  at  least  permissible  to  seek  the  remainder  in 

225 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

anterior  experiences  and  to  push  back  the  cryptomnesia 
and  the  cryptopsychism  of  the  individual  beyond  the 
present  existence. 

Obviously  this  is  a  very  wide  inference  to  draw.  To 
many  readers  it  will  at  first  sight  seem,  if  not  absurd,  at 
all  events  out  of  proportion  to  the  facts  on  which  it  is 
based. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  considered  by  itself,  but  in 
conjunction  with  all  the  preceding  demonstrations. 

It  then  has  more  weight.  It  is  not  hard  to  under- 
stand how  the  essential  dynamo-psychism  objectifying 
itself  in  new  organic  representations  should  retain  the 
deep  memory  of  experiences  realised  in  previous  repre- 
sentations. If  in  place  of  a  single  existence,  we  include 
a  series  of  successive  existences,  the  acquisition  of  con- 
sciousness by  the  primitive  unconsciousness  can  readily 
be  understood. 

Each  of  these  innumerable  and  various  experiences 
would  have  been  impressed  on  the  essential  dynamism 
of  the  being,  and  would  be  transformed  into  a  state  of 
consciousness;  that  is  into  a  remembrance  and  a  capacity. 
It  is  thus  that  the  living  being  passes  little  by  little 
from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness. 

Against  this  inference  of  re-birth,  no  objections  of  a 
scientific  kind  can  be  raised.  We  may  seek  in  vain  for 
a  single  one  in  the  whole  stock  of  knowledge.  Forget- 
fulness  of  previous  existences  has  but  slight  importance 
for  modern  science.  Remembrance  plays  but  a  secondary 
part  in  normal  psychology;  forgetfulness  is  habitual 
and  is  the  rule. 

In  the  course  of  a  lifetime,  the  greater  part  of  our 
experiences  disappears.  During  regular  and  normal  life 
the  personal  memory  of  the  brain — memory — is  altogether 
weak,  unreliable,  and  fails  us  continually;  it  is  still 
more  defective  in  abnormal  cases  caused  by  *  secondary 
states  *  whether  spontaneous,  hypnotic,  or  mediumistic. 
On  the  other  hand,  above  this  cerebral  memory  is 

226 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  subconscious  memory — the  infallible  memory  of  the 
true  and  complete  individuality,  as  indestructible  as  the 
being  itself. 

In  this  essential  memory  there  are  engraved  per- 
manently all  the  events  of  the  present  life,  and  all  the 
remembrances  and  conscious  acquisitions  of  the  vast 
series  of  antecedent  lives. 

In  the  light  of  the  two  propositions  just  stated, 
individual  evolution  can  be  understood  and  all  naturalistic 
and  philosophical  problems  relating  to  the  individual  can 
be  resolved. 

No  doubt  from  the  metaphysical  point  of  view  the 
concept  gives  a  large  range  to  hypothesis,  but  from  the 
psychological  standpoint,  there  is  no  enigma  on  which 
it  does  not  shed  light. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    SYNTHESIS    OF    THE    INDIVIDUAL 
I. PRIMORDIAL    AND    SECONDARY    REPRESENTATIONS 

The  rational  concept  of  the  individual  in  accord  with  all 
the  facts  is  as  follows. 

For  the  genesis  of  the  individual  the  essential 
dynamo-psychism  objectifies  itself  by  graded  primordial 
representations  successively  conditioning  one  another. 

According  to  our  present  knowledge  the  primordial 
representations  are: — 

J.  The  purely  mental; 

2.  The  Vital  Dynamism; 

3.  The  single  organic  substance.* 

These  primordial  representations  constitute  them- 
selves into  secondary  representations:  the  mental,  by 
states  of  consciousness  and  thoughts;  the  unique 
substance  by  cells  and  organs.  These  primordial  repre- 
sentations are  *  cadres '  which  remain  the  same  from  the 
birth  to  the  death  of  the  grouping  which  constitutes 
the  individual. 

The  secondary  representations,  on  the  contrary, 
are  perpetually  renewed.  The  cells  of  the  organic  com- 
plex, are  born,  die,  and  succeed  each  other  very  rapidly. 
The  states  of  consciousness  and  thoughts  follow  on  one 
another  in  the  same  way,  associating,  opposing,  con- 
verging or  diverging  in  a  chaos  which  is  co-ordinated 
only  by  the  directing  Self. 

*  It  is  curious  that  the  schools  of  thought  called  occultist  have  reached 
by  intuitive  or  mystical  paths  a  systematisation  not  unlike  this,  and 
describe  each  of  the  primordial  representations  as  having  each  a  concrete 
presentment,  by  means  of  an  organic  or  fluidic  substratum. 

228 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  last  terms  of  these  representations,  whether 
cells  or  thoughts,  have  a  collective  self-activity,  a 
dynamism  proper  to  themselves,  and  the  rudiments  of 
consciousness.  Cells  and  thoughts  are  *  wholes,'  frag- 
mentary dynamo-psychisms,  or  monads.^  The  graded 
*  hierarchies  '  which  exist  between  the  primordial  repre- 
sentations exist  also  in  principle  between  the  secondary 
representations.  There  is  a  hierarchy  of  the  tissues  and 
a  hierarchy  of  mental  groups;  and  in  the  *  cadres  '  of 
primordial  representations  which  are  fixed  and  unchange- 
able during  the  continuance  of  the  life-group,  there 
exists  a  possibility  of  representations  different  from  the 
normal  secondary  representations.  Thus,  the  tissues 
and  organs  of  the  unique  substance  can  be  reconstituted 
by  metapsychic  materialisation  into  new  forms,  and 
the  mental  representations  can  be  reconstituted  into 
secondary  personalities  by  an  abnormal  psychism. 

This  clears  up  the  concept  of  the  individual  both 
as  such  and  in  the  many  details  of  his  physiology  and 
his  psychology. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  analysis  of  the  individual 
and  his  representations,  in  detail. 


2. ^THE    BODY  AND   THE    VITAL    DYNAMISM 

The  body,  which  is  the  lower  objectification  and  the 
ideoplastic  representation  of  the  self,  can  no  longer  be 
considered  as  playing  the  primordial  and  essential  part 
that  was  assigned  to  it  by  classical  psycho-physiology. 

The  known  facts  of  supernormal  physiology  seem 
to  establish  definitely  that  the  diverse  anatomical  modali- 
ties of  the  organism  are  reducible  to  a  unique  representa- 
tion— the  primordial  substance,  which  is  not  nervous, 

*  The  celebrated  experiments  of  Dr  Carrel  have  positively  demon-' 
strated  this  as  regards  ^e  cells. 

22Q  R 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

muscular,  or  osseous,  etc.  .  .  .  but  is  substance  pure 
and  simple. 

This  opens  a  vast  field;  and  the  study  of  organic 
modality  must  be  resumed  on  an  altogether  new  basis. 

This  organic  substance  is  built  up,  developed,  main- 
tained, and  repaired  by  the  higher  active  principle — 
the  vital  dynamism — which  conditions  it. 

In  our  study  of  physiological  individuality  we  have 
sufficiently  demonstrated  the  reality  of  this  vital  dynamism 
considered  as  independent  of  the  organic  complex,  and 
as  an  organising  and  directing  principle.  There  is  no 
need  to  revert  to  this  demonstration. 

The  vital  dynamism,  moreover,  has  its  own  proper, 
autonomous  existence,  shown  by  its  limitations  in  time 
and  space,  as  distinct  from  the  higher  dynamo-psychic 
principles  in  the  individual,  which  are  above  time  and 
space.  The  apparent  manifestations  of  its  organising, 
directive,  and  reparatory  powers  do  not  extend  beyond 
the  birth  and  death  of  the  organism  which  it  conditions. 
All  available  evidence  shows  that  these  manifestations 
are  restricted  within  narrow  limits. 

In  building  up  the  organism  the  vital  dynamism  is 
under  a  double  influence:  the  influence  of  the  higher 
dynamo- psychism  of  the  Self,  and  the  hereditary 
influence  which  seems  to  be  linked  to  substance,  i.e. 
the  active  ideoplastic  influence  of  the  living  being,  and 
the  passive  ideoplastic  influence  which  is  the  mental 
imprint  given  to  the  substance  by  progenitors. 

Schopenhauer  had  already  conceived  of  the  sequence 
of  organic  edification  as  really  proceeding  from  the 
active  ideoplastic  power. 

*  The  different  parts  of  the  body  must  correspond 
perfectly  with  the  principal  appetites  by  which  the 
Will  is  manifest;  they  must  be  their  visible  expres- 
sions in  being.  The  teeth,  oesophagus,  and  intestinal 
canal  are  hunger  objectified;    similarly  the  genital 

230 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

organs  are  the  objectified  sexual  instinct;  the  hands 
which  grasp,  the  feet  which  move,  correspond  to  the 
less  urgent  desires  of  the  Will  which  they  represent. 
As  the  human  form  as  a  whole  corresponds  to  the 
human  will  as  a  whole,  so  the  form  of  the  individual 
body  (which  is  consequently  very  characteristic  and 
very  expressive)  corresponds  to  the  individual  modi- 
fications of  the  will  and  to  a  particular  character.* 

To  this  concept  of  the  ideoplastic  activity  we  have 
only  to  add  that  the  objectification  of  the  essential 
dynamo-psychism  is  not  primarily  and  immediately  an 
objectification  in  matter.  It  is  primarily  mental.  Then 
the  mental  objectification  is  transferred  into  dynamic 
objectification,  and  this  again  into  organic  representation. 

The  passive  ideoplasticity  is  the  mental  imprint 
received  from  progenitors,  and  is  the  sum  total  of  heredity. 
It  plays  an  important  part  in  the  building  up  of  the 
organism,  because  the  directive  will  of  the  Self  is  not 
powerful  enough  at  the  existing  level  of  evolution  to 
modify  the  main  physiological  functions.  The  body 
and  the  vital  dynamism  form  a  kind  of  lower  self,  having 
a  will  of  its  own,  over  which  the  control  of  the  higher 
Self  is  only  a  partial  and  relative. 

The  influence  of  the  active  ideoplasticity  is  none  the 
less  the  preponderant  influence.  It  determines  the 
destiny  and  the  purpose  of  the  organism  and  adapts 
human  cerebration  to  its  normal  use. 

Deprived  of  this  higher  direction,  the  action  of  the 
vital  dynamism  in  highly  evolved  creatures,  and  especially 
in  man,  may  be  perverted,  warped,  or  weakened,  and 
may  produce  abortions  and  monsters. 

The  embryonic  growth  of  an  organism  is  manifest 
as  a  regular  and  normal  *  materialisation,'  while  meta- 
psychic  materialisation  is  only  an  irregular  and  abnormal 
ideoplastic  growth. 

The  building  up  of  an  organism,  moreover,  can  occur 

231 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

normally,  otherwise  than  under  the  usual  conditions 
which  govern  generation  in  highly  evolved  creatures. 
In  parthenogenesis,  in  reproduction  by  budding,  the 
grouping  of  organic  and  dynamic  monads  takes  place 
otherwise  than  by  the  conjunction  of  an  ovum  and 
spermatozoon.  These  facts,  which  seem  disconcerting, 
can  easily  be  explained  by  the  new  ideas;  they  simply 
prove  that  the  conditions  which  govern  cellular  and 
dynamic  groups  are  not  restricted  to  fertilisation.^ 

Once  constituted,  the  vital  dynamism  represents  a 
storage  of  power,  confined  within  narrow  limits  both 
as  to  its  duration  and  its  potentialities. 

In  its  duration,  because  the  powers  of  organic  repair 
diminish  with  maturity  and  do  not  prevent  the  body 
from  slow  disintegration  under  the  wastage  of  old  age. 

In  its  potentialities,  for  an  organic  injury  may  be 
beyond  the  power  of  repair  and  may  bring  about  the 
premature  end  of  the  corporeal  grouping. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  limitations  of  the  vital 
dynamism  are  more  pronounced  in  the  higher  than  in 
the  lower  forms  of  life.  It  may  be,  however,  that  in 
these  latter  the  case  is  rather  one  of  less  restricted 
specialisation  than  of  greater  power. 

In  any  case,  a  special  study  of  the  vital  dynamism 
in  the  lower  grades  of  life,  such  as  plants  and  protozoa, 
will  be  necessitated  by  reason  of  the  great  differences 
in  its  qualities  and  modes  of  action  as  shown  in  them. 
It  seems  certain,  however,  that  in  the  more  highly 
evolved  forms  the  reparative  action  of  the  vital  dynamism 

^  We  may  remark,  passim,  that  there  is  a  curious  analogy  between 
reproduction  by  cuttings,  and  especially  by  buds,  and  the  metapsychic 
materialisations.  MateriaUsation  often  proceeds  (as  we  have  seen)  by  a 
kind  of  budding  or  prolonging  of  the  primary  substance  exteriorised  by 
the  medium,  this  bud  developing  into  a  being  or  the  fragment  of  a  being. 
The  difference  is  in  the  duration,  and  that  is  only  a  matter  of  time  and 
modality.  There  is  nothing  to  prove  that  in  the  end  the  materiahsation 
may  not  prove  to  be  separable  from  the  medium,  and  given  a  separate 
existence,  just  as  the  cutting  or  the  bud  is  separated  from  the  parent 
stock.  Impossible  !  it  will  be  said.  By  no  means.  The  rashness  would 
lie  with  those,  who,  knowing  what  we  now  know,  affirm  the  impossibility. 

232 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

is  very  much  more  restricted  than  in  the  lower  forms 
because  of  the  high  centralisation  in  the  former  which 
monopolises  the  greater  part  of  the  energy  for  the 
functions  of  the  nervous  system.^  Certainly  in  these 
more  evolved  forms  it  has  far  less  than  the  amazing 
power  observable  in  the  invertebrates  and  even  in  some 
lower  vertebrates ;  a  power  which  extends  to  the  renewal 
of  members  or  even  of  viscera. 

Even  such  as  it  is,  it  is  capable  of  unexpected 
marvels,  and  if  it  is  premature  to  anticipate  a  new 
system  of  medicine  based  on  a  deeper  study  of 
the  vital  dynamism,  at  least  its  possibility  may  be 
foreseen. 

The  function  and  purpose  of  the  body  and  the 
vital  dynamism  which,  together  constitute  the  lower 
self  of  the  individual,  seem  to  be  to  limit  the  activity 
of  the  Self  and  give  it  a  specific  direction — to  specialise 
it,  so  to  speak.  Everything  occurs  as  though  each 
terrestrial  existence,  each  organic  objectification,  each 
*  incarnation  '  if  the  term  is  preferred,  were  for  the  real 
being  a  limitation  in  time,  space,  and  means.  It  would 
seem  to  resemble  a  compulsion  to  a  restricted  and 
specialised  task,  an  effort  directed  to  a  single  aim  exclu- 
sive of  others.  Sharply  defined  as  this  is  from  the 
physiological  point  of  view,  this  limitation  is  still  more 
strict  psychologically. 

This  limitation  is  the  cause  of  the  impotence  of  the 
supernormal  faculties.  It  trammels  the  manifestation  of 
the  inspiration  of  intuitive  and  creative  genius.  It  is  the 
cause  of  the  forgetting  during  organic  life  of  the  immense 
majority  of  acquired  experiences  in  their  quality  of 
remembrances  as  distinct  from  capacities  developed;    it 

*•  It  is  not  absurd  to  surmise  that  prolonged  artificial  quiescence  of  the 
nervous  system,  say  by  a  long  period  of  special  hjrpnosis,  might  render 
possible  a  quite  unexpected  extension  of  the  healing  and  reparatory 
power  of  the  vital  dynamism. 

This  power  is  actually  shown,  exceptionally,  in  abnormal  states  and 
in  the  cures  which  are  called  miraculous. 

233 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

is  the  dominant  cause  of  ignorance  in  the  individual 
of  his  real  position  in  the  evolutionary  scale. 

The  cerebral  organ  is,  of  course,  indispensable  for 
psychological  function  in  relation  to  the  external  world. 
But  this  organ  is  capable  only  of  a  restricted  activity 
and  has  but  a  limited  amount  of  that  storage  power 
which  we  call  memory.  As  the  passing  impressions 
which  it  has  received  are  effaced,  the  memory  of  these 
impressions  tends  to  disappear  from  normal  consciousness. 

This  is  very  obvious  in  the  normal  course  of  life, 
and,  a  fortiori.,  the  brain  when  newly  acquired  cannot 
vibrate  in  harmony  with  impressions  long  past,  which, 
even  in  normal  life,  only  occasionally  reach  the  threshold 
of  consciousness. 

This  forgetfulness,  however,  is  only  apparent,  since 
the  remembrance  remains  in  the  essential  memory  of  the 
Self;  and  in  the  lower  phases  of  evolution  it  is  salutary, 
for  it  necessitates  a  multiplicity  of  experiences  under 
continually  changing  conditions.  This  forgetfulness, 
moreover,  allows  the  Self  to  pursue  its  line  of  develop- 
ment without  being  embarrassed  or  turned  aside  from 
its  aim.  Like  death  itself,  it  is  a  factor  favouring 
evolution. 1 

And  further,  the  usual  inaccessibility  of  the  faculties 
of  instinct,  intuition,  and  the  supernormal  powers 
generally  (which  pertain  to  the  unconscious),  compels 
constant  considered  effort,  and  thus  it  also  favours 
evolution. 


3. THE    REAL    SELF   AND    ITS    MENTAL    REPRESENTATIONS 

We  have  now  considered  the  body  and  the  vital 
dynamism  which  constitute  the  lower  self  of  the  indi- 
vidual. We  shall  now  study  the  higher  group — the 
mental  dynamo-psychism  and  the  Self. 

1  See  Part  III. 
234 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Everything  that  is  essential  in  the  being — ^the  innate 
faculties,  the  intellectual  aptitudes,  and  the  primordial 
powers — belong  to  this  group. 

The  central  monad,  the  real  Self,  is  the  source  and 
principle  of  creative  genius  and  inspiration.  Its  function 
is  to  centralise  and  direct  the  psychological  whole.  It 
ensures  individual  permanence  in  spite  of  the  perpetual 
renewal  of  states  of  consciousness  during  one  life  and 
the  changes  of  personality  in  successive  lives.  It  retains 
integrally  the  remembrance  of  all  its  acquisitions,  and 
assimilates  them  to  itself.  By  this  assimilation  of  past 
states  of  consciousness,  the  consciousness  which  repre- 
sents and  synthetises  all  past  realisations,  develops 
little  by  little.  In  it  resides  the  whole  of  the  latent 
consciousness,  made  up  of  a  vast  mass  of  experiences, 
acquisitions,  and  realisations. 

The  mentality  which  the  Self  directs  is  made  up 
of  states  of  consciousness  not  as  yet  assimilated,  but 
which  it  regulates  and  uses.  There  is  in  it  an  extensive 
group  of  intellectual  monads — *  elementary  dynamo- 
psychisms,*  at  a  high  evolutionary  level  and  possessing 
a  marked  degree  of  self-activity,  autonomy,  and  individ- 
ualisation. 

In  the  psychic  whole  these  elements  form  secondary 
groups  determined  by  affinities  and  associations  which 
all  tend  to  independence.  Thus  there  are  in  the  psychism 
two  constant  currents — the  one  centrifugal  and  decen- 
tralising in  its  action,  tending  to  anarchy  or  polyarchy; 
and  the  other  centripetal,  tending  to  centralisation 
and  governance  by  the  Self. 

The  general  grouping  is  determined  by  affinities; 
the  psychic  elements  which  form  a  new  being  are  grouped 
by  the  tendencies  and  the  aspirations  which  mark  the 
evolutionary  level  reached  by  the  Self. 

We  are  here  dealing  with  a  primary  fact,  on  which 
special  stress  is  to  be  laid,  that  the  total  psychism  is 
closely   bound   up   with   and   limited   by   the   cerebral 

235 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

psychism  for  all  manifestations  in  its  relations  with  the 
external  world.  The  expression  of  thought,  and  all 
manifestations  of  mental  activity  have  to  flow  along  the 
cerebral  channel;  and  this  channel,  which  is  both  narrow 
and  fixed  in  its  direction,  limits  and  determines  the 
whole  activity  of  the  Self  in  that  same  direction. 

The  close  association  of  the  Self  with  the  lower 
group  implies  a  restriction  of  the  activity  of  the  Self; 
whereas  all  dissociation  from  the  lower  group  implies 
its  extension.  The  total  psychism  therefore  differs  from 
the  psychism  of  normal  life,  which  is  limited  by  the 
cerebral  conditions. 

In  this  concept  there  is  one  point  to  which  we  must 
call  special  attention  in  order  to  avoid  false  and  mis- 
leading interpretations;  this  concerns  the  subordination 
of  the  cerebral  to  the  higher  psychism.  This  concept 
must  by  no  means  be  understood  in  the  sense  that  there 
are  in  the  individual  two  beings,  distinct  in  their  essence 
and  destiny.  This  misapprehension  is,  unfortunately, 
nearly  universal.  It  dominates  the  systems  both  of 
Schopenhauer  and  von  Hartmann. 

*  We  may  be  consoled,*  writes  Von  Hartmann, 
for  having  minds  so  low  and  absorbed  in  material 
things,  so  devoid  of  poetic  and  religious  sense;  there 
is  deep  within  us  a  marvellous  subconsciousness 
which  dreams  and  prays  while  we  work  for  our 
livelihood.* 

Certain  mystics  fall  into  the  same  error  when  they 
gravely  teach  that  all  acts,  both  those  which  are  most 
meritorious  or  most  guilty,  have  little  importance  because 
they  do  not  proceed  from  the  real  Self,  and  have  no 
effect  upon  it. 

This  is  radically  false. 

The  Self  is  not  a  duality,  it  is  a  unity.  But  during 
terrestrial  life  cerebral  conditions  only  allow  of  a  restricted 

236 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  truncated  manifestation  of  the  total  psychism.  This 
limitation  hides  from  the  person  not  only  his  meta- 
physical essence,  but  also  the  greater  part  of  his  conscious 
realisations. 

In  abnormal  states,  when  the  subconscious  part 
manifests  itself  more  or  less  distinctly,  this  creates  the 
illusion  of  duality,  just  because  being  outside  and  above 
temporary  limitations,  it  appears  quite  different  from 
the  normal  psychism. 

But  the  conscious  and  the  unconscious  constitute 
one  and  the  same  individuality  in  which  the  interplay 
from  one  to  the  other  is  correlative  and  unceasing. 

It  is,  moreover,  extremely  difficult,  for  want  of  a 
definite  criterion,  to  state  exactly  what  are  the  limits  of 
contribution  by  the  subconscious,  and  in  what  measure 
this  contribution  is  conditioned  by  organic  factors  and 
cerebral  heredity. 

According  to  the  notions  put  forward  above,  there 
are  constant  alternations  of  *  associated  life '  and  *  dis- 
sociated life '  in  the  permanent  and  indestructible 
existence  of  the  individual. 

The  phases  of  associated  life — the  association  of  the 
Self  with  organic  and  material  life — ^imply  a  process 
of  analysis,  a  perfecting  of  detail,  a  progress  towards 
consciousness  by  restricted  efforts  directed  in  a  special 
sense  which  is  imposed  by  the  present  objectification; 
efforts  which  are  concurrent  with  those  of  the  other 

*  monads '  constituting  the  dynamic  and  material 
organism. 

The  phases  of  dissociated  life  imply  a  progress  by 
contemplation,  by  deep  inward  assimilation,  working 
towards  synthesis. 

Myers  believed  also  in  a  special  development  of  the 
faculties    called    supernormal    during    these    phases    of 

*  discarnate  *  life.  These  faculties,  however,  which 
pertain  to  the  divine  essence  of  the  unconscious,  must 
really  be  immutable;    but  it  is  quite  possible  that  the 

237 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Self,  passing  beyond  terrestrial  existences,  may  learn  to 
use  these  supernormal  faculties,  and  to  understand  them 
sufficiently  to  bring  them  little  by  little  under  the 
dominion  of  its  will. 

The  hypothesis  is  a  large  one,  but  its  study  must 
be  left  to  future  research  in  the  metapsychic  domain, 
by  which  it  may,  perhaps,  be  confirmed.  With  more 
certainty  we  may  infer  that  the  being  in  its  discarnate 
phases,  freed  from  cerebral  conditions,  can  and  should, 
when  it  has  reached  a  sufficiently  high  level  of  con- 
sciousness and  liberty,  know  itself  better  and  better.* 
Its  past  should  be  accessible  to  him  within  the  limits 
of  its  evolution  as  actually  realised,  and  it  might  even 
be  able  consciously  to  prepare  its  future. 


4. METAPHYSICAL    INFERENCES    ON    THE    ORIGIN 

AND    END    OF    INDIVIDUALISATION 

This  paragraph  has  no  claim  to  be  scientific;  the 
hypotheses  which  it  puts  forward  are  only  intended  to 
offer  matter  for  discussion. 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    INDIVIDUAL 

At  the  beginning  of  evolution,  as  far  as  we  may  be 
able  to  conceive  of  such  beginning,  there  is  neither 
consciousness  nor  individualisation.  Schopenhauer 
expressed  this  as  follows; — 

*  Thus  in  the  lowest  forms  of  life  we  have  seen 
Will  appearing  as  a  blind  impulse,  a  dumb  and 
mysterious  effiDrt  far  from  any  direct  consciousness. 
It  is  the  simplest  and  weakest  of  its  objectifications. 

*  We  have  shown  in  L'Etre  Subconscient  that  liberty  and  consciousness 
are  correlative  to  each  other. 

238 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

It  is  manifest  as  a  blind  impulse  and  an  unconscious 
effort  in  all  inorganic  nature  and  in  all  the  primary 
forces  whose  laws  it  is  the  task  of  physics  and 
chemistry  to  seek  out.  Millions  of  phenomena, 
show  each  of  these  laws  as  altogether  similar  and 
regular,  bearing  no  trace  of  any  individual  character.* 

It  may  be  admitted  that  wherever  a  rudiment  of 
consciousness  appears  in  the  primitive  unconscious, 
individualisation  has  begun.  This  rudiment  of  con- 
sciousness is  at  first  extremely  minute  and  inappreciable. 
It  existed,  however,  doubtless,  as  soon  as  the  universe 
showed  a  trace  of  organisation — sooner,  perhaps,  than 
Schopenhauer  thought. 

However  this  may  be,  once  this  rudiment  of  con- 
sciousness has  been  acquired,  it  will  be  indelible,  and 
will  henceforward  continue  to  increase  without  limit. 

Thus  are  constituted  individual  *  monads  '  by  rudi- 
mentary accessions  of  consciousness.  This  old  term 
'  monad  *  may  be  kept,  restricting  it  to  the  general 
meaning  of  a  dynamo-psychic  individuality — a  part  of 
the  universal  creative  dynamo-psychism ;  having,  like 
it,  all  potentialities  of  realisation  and  the  characteristic  of 
divine  permanence. 

The  objectification  of  these  monads,  and  their  subse- 
quent evolution,  are  the  resultant  of  the  continuous 
effort  of  the  unconscious  dynamo-psychism  in  its  tendency 
towards  consciousness — ^an  effort  which  necessitates  an 
immense  total  of  sensations  and  acquisitions. 

From  this  continual  work  of  analysis  and  acquisition 
there  result  groups  of  monads  which  constitute  the  whole 
organised  representation  of  the  universe. 

In  the  universality  of  things  there  are  therefore  only 
everlasting  monads,  and  temporary  groupings  of  them 
in  ephemeral  '  representations.' 

That  which  is  called  the  formation  of  a  living  being, 
would  thus  be  only  the  complex  association  and  formation 

239 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  a  group.  That  which  is  called  its  death  would  be  in 
reality  only  the  dissociation  of  the  group.  It  is  not  the 
annihilation  of  the  constituent  monads,  which,  according 
to  affinities  determined  by  the  past  or  by  the  necessities 
of  future  evolution,  go  to  form  a  new  being  by  a  new 
grouping. 

These  individual  monads  are  identical  in  potentiality 
but  not  in  realisation.  By  reason  of  the  rudiments  of 
consciousness  they  have  acquired,  the  evolutionary 
impulse  becomes  more  and  more  susceptible  to  the 
influence  of  acquisitions.  The  factors  of  adaptation  and 
selection  come  into  play;  they  make  effort  obligatory — 
an  effort  which  is  at  first  purely  reflex,  then  instinctive, 
then  reasoned;  and  effort  necessarily  causes  inequalities 
of  consciousness  and  consequent  inequalities  in  realisation. 
These  inequalities  of  evolving  parts  are,  however,  kept 
within  limits  by  the  original  and  essential  solidarity  of 
those  parts. 

Thanks  to  that  all-powerful  solidarity,  the  growth  into 
consciousness  cannot  be  purely  individual,  it  is  neces- 
sarily in  very  great  measure,  collective.  Thus  the 
evolution  of  the  more  conscious  monads  favours  the 
evolution  of  the  less  conscious;  and  the  retardation  of 
these  latter  slows  down  the  evolution  of  the  former. 

This  solidarity  which  is  evident  in  the  sum  total 
of  beings  and  in  the  whole  universe,  is  especially  visible 
in  those  complex  associations  which  constitute  animal 
colonies  and  still  more  so  in  those  graded  (hierarchised) 
associations  which  we  have  already  studied  as  constituting 
living  beings. 


THE    FUTURE    OF    THE    INDIVIDUAL 

If  now,  having  considered  past  and  present  evolution, 
we  seek  to  predict  what  its  future  will  be,  we  are  led 
to  an  important  inference. 

240 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

As  the  reversion  from  the  conscious  to.  the  uncon- 
scious illuminates  the  latter  more  and  more,  there  will 
necessarily  come  a  time  when  nothing  will  be  mysterious 
or  obscure. 

At  what  we  will  call  the  summit  of  evolution,  as  far 
as  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of  this,  the  apparent  separa- 
tion and  the  temporary  scission  between  the  conscious 
and  the  subconscious  will  no  longer  exist.  All  the 
capacities  and  all  the  knowledge  that  go  to  make  up 
the  living  being,  all  its  vast  past,  will  henceforward  be 
integrally,  directly,  regularly,  and  normally  accessible. 
Similarly  the  supernormal  powers  will  be  under  the 
control  of  the  conscious  will. 

The  subconscious  being  will  have  disappeared  and 
only  the  conscious  being  will  remain.  Then,  but  only 
then,  the  essential  dynamo-psychism  will  deserve  the 
name  of  Will. 

If  we  did  not  fear  to  lose  our  way  in  the  metaphysical 
realm,  we  might  permit  ourselves  another  inference,  but 
one  which  we  can  merely  indicate  with  caution  and  with 
large  reservations. 

This  infinitely  vast  expansion  of  consciousness 
should  necessarily  result  in  the  disruption  of  those 
factitious  and  transitory  groupings  which  make  individu- 
alisation. 

The  monads  would  then  return  to  the  original 
unity  from  whence  they  were  derived. 

But  this  unity,  this  synthesis  of  all  consciousness, 
will  absorb  them  all  into  itself,  while  leaving  each 
indelible  and  eternal. 

Arrived  at  its  summum,  each  individual  consciousness 
will  be  expanded  to  total  consciousness;  it  will  have 
become  the  total  Consciousness  Itself. 

The  '  summit '  of  evolution  may  then  be  imaged  as 
a  kind  of  *  conscious  nirvana.* 


CHAPTER  IV 

INTERPRETATION    OF    PSYCHOLOGY    BY    THE    NEW    IDEAS 

It   remains    now   to   adapt   the   preceding   notions   to 
psychology  as  a  whole. 

The  simplicity  of  this  interpretation  compared  with 
the  lamentable  impotence  of  classical  psychology,  "will 
afford  a  conclusive  and  palmary  proof  of  its  truth.  To 
the  classical  psychology  all  the  states  and  all  the  facts 
which  we  are  about  to  discuss  are  so  many  pure  mysteries. 

I. ^THE    PSYCHOLOGY    CALLED    NORMAL 

Let  us  imagine  a  certain  person  in  whom  the  synthesis 
of  the  different  constituent  principles  is  well  established. 
They  are  linked  together  by  satisfactory  affinities  and 
none  is  out  of  harmony. 

The  centralisation  is  strong  and  the  homogeneity 
obvious. 

The  central  monad — ^the  Self — directs  the  mental 
dynamo-psychism,  and  has  complete  control  over  all 
its  elements.  Through  the  mental  dynamo-psychism  it 
directs  the  vital  dynamism  and  the  body,  within  the 
limits  prescribed  by  the  evolutionary  level  attained.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  this  evolutionary  level  does  not 
allow  of  consciousness  of  the  vital  functions  and  does 
not  give  the  power  to  act  on  the  main  bodily  functions — 
the  vital  dynamism  retaining  a  large  measure  of  self- 
activity. 

The  individual  so  constituted  is  in  stable  equilibrium. 
His  psychic  health  is  perfect.  But  at  the  same  time  he 
finds  himself  severely  limited  by  organic  conditions. 

242 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  solidarity  of  his  superior  psychism  with  his  cerebral 
psychism  being  absolute,  all  the  activities  of  the  former 
are  limited  by  the  extent  of  the  latter  and  restrained 
within  its  conditions. 

Such  an  individual  cannot  be  conscious  of  his  latent 
powers,  nor  of  anj^hing  which  concerns  his  higher 
psychism.  In  him  the  products  of  higher  inspiration 
and  of  his  brain  are  closely  unified  and  make  a  harmonious 
whole.  His  psychology  is  normal — typical — marked  by 
the  equilibrium  of  his  faculties  and  their  regular  output, 
but  also  by  their  narrow  limitations. 

These  well-balanced  individuals  may  be  at  very 
different  evolutionary  levels.  There  are  among  them 
many  mediocrities,  but  also  some  very  intelligent  men. 
Their  intellectual  output  is  regular  and  contains  no 
surprises.  They  never  perceive  any  subconscious  contri- 
butions, these  being  too  closely  connected  with  the 
results  of  voluntary  effort.  They  know  nothing  of 
intuition;  they  are  never  original.  If  they  understand 
art  they  are  never  artists  in  the  higher  sense  of  the  word; 
still  less  are  they  inventors  or  creative.  They  have  no 
genius,  and  none  of  the  higher  kind  of  inspiration. 

Well-balanced  minds  play  a  useful  part  in  science 
and  social  life  by  their  poise  and  the  correctness  of  their 
reasoning  on  ordinary  matters ;  they  are  also  detrimental 
by  their  hatred  of  innovation  and  their  immovable 
attitude. 

Their  opinions  are  generally  those  of  their  surround- 
ings. They  do  not  seek  to  improve  on  these,  and  are 
inclined  to  accept  any  prevalent  idea,  which  seems  to 
them  established  by  the  mere  fact  that  it  is  prevalent. 
They  are  impervious  to  philosophy,  or  are  satisfied  with 
a  dull  commonplace  philosophy  conformable  to  estab- 
lished ideas.  They  tend  strongly  towards  materialism, 
for  the  close  fusion  of  the  constituent  principles  and 
their  limitation  by  matter  do  not  allow  them  to  look 
beyond  material  things.    That  in  them  which  is  above 

243 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

material  limitations,  is  entirely  unknown  to  them;  and 
they  have  no  real  philosophical  curiosity.  To  them 
everything  is  relatively  simple  because  they  avoid  going 
to  the  bottom  of  anything. 


2. ^ABNORMAL    PSYCHOLOGY 

In  place  of  the  previously  described  harmonious 
and  well  established  synthesis  and  the  perfect  blend  of 
the  different  constituent  principles  of  the  Self,  let  us 
now  suppose  an  unstable  synthesis,  having  some  lack 
of  union  or  affinity  between  the  *  cadres,'  involving 
a  disharmony.  The  whole  phenomena  of  abnormal 
psychology  result  from  such  conditions. 

Where  there  is  a  break  of  equilibrium  or  want  of 
harmony  between  the  body  and  the  vital  dynamism 
which  directs  and  conditions  it,  we  have  the  origin  of 
all  hysteriform  manifestations  of  a  physiological  kind. 
Where  there  is  a  break  or  want  of  harmony  between 
the  mentality  and  the  Self,  we  have  the  cause  of  all 
kinds  of  mental  instability  from  simple  neuroses  to 
disintegration  into  multiple  personalities,  or  dementia. 

Theoretically,  want  of  equilibrium  could  only  exist 
between  any  two  of  the  constituent  principles  of  the 
Self;  but  in  fact  no  want  of  balance  is  partial  only;  by 
reason  of  the  essential  solidarity  of  the  individual  group- 
ing, every  cause  of  disharmony  between  any  two  *  cadres  * 
reacts  on  the  whole  of  the  groups  forming  the  individual. 
This  is  the  reason  why  there  is  no  hystero-physiological 
disturbance  without  mental  disturbance,  and  no  mental 
trouble  without  some  hysteriform  repercussion. 

The  same  causes  which  produce  abnormal  psychology 
— a  want  of  perfect  equilibrium  between  the  constituent 
principles  of  the  individual  grouping — permits  of  the 
isolated  manifestation  of  one  or  other  of  these  groups 
by  its  *  secession  *  or  even  its  *  exteriorisation/ 

244 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

It  has  one  good  result;  it  diminishes  the  limitations 
of  the  higher  psychism,  and  permits  it  to  appear. 

Thus  the  same  factor  is  the  source  of  psychological 
morbidity,  and  of  high  psychic  manifestations :  it  opens 
the  door  to  mental  disorder,  but  also  to  crypto-psychism, 
cryptomnesia,  to  the  manifestations  of  genius,  to  intuition, 
and  to  supernormal  states.  It  allows  the  individual  flashes 
of  insight  into  his  real  state  and  his  destiny. 

These  general  notions  being  admitted,  we  can  now 
enter  more  fully  on  detail,  and  shall  successively  con- 
sider:— 

Neuropathic  states; 

Neurasthenia; 

Hysteria; 

Dementia; 

Hypnotism; 

Alterations  of  personality; 

Intellectual  work  by  the  higher  subconscious  psychism 
and  genius; 

Crypto-psychism  and  cryptomnesia; 

The  Supernormal;  and 

Mediumship. 

All  these  abnormal  psychological  states  have  reciprocal 
relations  and  inevitable  points  of  contact,  both  by  their 
original  nature  and  by  their  particular  conditions.  They 
often  interpenetrate. 


3. NEUROPATHIC    STATES 

Instability  in  the  equilibrium  of  the  individual 
grouping  is  at  the  root  of  all  neuropathic  states,  causing 
a  relative  and  partial  disorder  which  is  the  origin  of  all 
nervous  troubles. 

Contrariwise  to  what  we  have  noted  in  the  well- 
balanced  man,  we  find  a  want  of  homogeneity  and 
dependence  between  the  different  constituent  principles. 

245  s 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  centralising  direction  is  imperfect;  there  is  no 
harmonious  fusion  between  the  Self  and  the  mentality, 
between  the  mentality  and  the  vital  dynamism,  and 
between  this  last  and  the  organism. 

This  state  of  unstable  equilibrium  allows  of  momen- 
tary and  partial  decentralisations  which  are  indeed 
sources  of  disorder,  but  are  also  conditions  in  which  the 
lessened  limitations  imposed  by  the  body,  allow  of  the 
possibility  of  bringing  to  light  everything  which  in  the 
normal  psychic  being  is  cryptoid  or  occult,  whether  of 
the  nature  of  faculty  or  of  knowledge.  But  this  mani- 
festation is  never  regular;  the  intellectual  output  is 
occasional  and  sporadic;  it  requires  a  collaboration  of 
the  conscious  and  the  subconscious;  and  the  modalities 
and  difficulties  of  this  collaboration  are  well  known. 
Persons  so  constituted  are,  like  the  well-balanced,  at 
very  various  levels  of  evolution. 

There  are  among  them  mediocrities,  in  whom, 
however,  a  tinge  of  originality  corrects  psychological 
monotony. 

There  are  inferior  neuropaths  who  drag  out  a  morbid 
existence  of  semi-insanity  or  semi-imbecility,  showing 
the  mental  and  physical  defects  which  are  now  called 
degeneracy. 

There  are  also  superior  neuropaths  whose  talents  or 
genius  are  inseparable  from  similar  defects.  These 
defects  cause  great  suffering;  the  superior  neuropath 
finds  it  hard  to  govern  his  grouping,  to  direct  his  body 
and  even  his  mentality.  Often  this  mentality  escapes 
more  or  less  from  his  control  and  he  then  skirts  the 
edge  of  total  disequilibrium  or  insanity.  Over  and 
above  his  psycho-physiological  defects,  he  feels  dimly 
the  limitations  imposed  on  him  by  his  nerves  and  brain, 
and  thence  arise  his  greatest  sufferings,  even  though  he 
is  not  fully  aware  of  their  cause. 

How  much  suffering  is  involved  in  these  limitations, 
in  the  intuitive  perceptions  of  genuine  intuitive  faculty 

246 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

which  nevertheless  are  not  at  his  free  disposal;  in  the 
desire  to  reduce  large  abstract  perceptions  to  concrete 
analytical  work;  in  the  effort  to  express  in  words  that 
which  he  conceives  of  so  well  without  words;  in  the 
necessity  which  obliges  him  to  submit  the  work  of  his 
highest  and  conscious  Self  to  the  lower  organic 
mechanism. 

Guyau  has  described  this  state  very  vividly. 

*  We  suffer  from  a  kind  of  hypertrophy  of  the 
intellect.  All  those  who  are  in  travail  of  thought, 
all  who  meditate  on  life  and  death,  all  those  who 
philosophize,  end  by  experiencing  the  same  pain. 
And  so  there  are  great  artists  who  pass  their  lives 
in  the  endeavour  to  bring  to  realisation  an  ideal 
which  is  more  or  less  inaccessible  to  them.  They 
are  attracted  from  all  sides,  by  all  the  sciences,  by 
all  the  arts;  they  desire  to  enter  into  all,  and  are 
obliged  to  refrain  and  to  divide  themselves.  A 
man  feels  the  greedy  brain  draw  to  itself  the  energy 
of  the  whole  organism,  and  he  is  impelled  to  subdue 
it,  and  to  resign  himself  to  vegetate  instead  of  living. 
He  does  not  so  resign  himself,  but  prefers  to  give 
himself  up  to  the  inner  fire  which  consumes  him. 
His  thought  becomes  enfeebled,  it  stresses  the 
nervous  system,  feminizes  him;  though  it  does  not 
touch  his  will  which  remains  virile,  unsatisfied,  and 
always  on  the  stretch.  From  all  this  arises  a  long 
struggle  of  himself  against  himself,  a  weary  conflict 
between  the  alternative  of  muscle  or  nerve,  to  be 
a  man  or  a  woman.  The  thinker,  the  artist,  is 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 

*  Oh,  if  we  could  only  once,  and  by  one  huge 
effort,  give  birth  to  the  whole  world  of  thought  and 
feeling  that  we  carry  within,  with  what  joy  would 
we  welcome  that  power  even  though  the  whole 
organism  were  to  be  broken  and  destroyed  in  the 

247 


"From  the  TJnconscious  to  the  Conscious 

pangs  of  creating.  But  no!  We  must  give  our- 
selves by  small  fractions,  spend  ourselves  drop  by 
drop,  and  endure  all  the  trammels  of  life.  Little  by 
little  the  whole  organism  is  wearied  out  in  this  struggle 
between  the  body  and  the  ideal,  then  the  intellect 
itself  is  obscured  and  fails — ^it  is  a  living  and  suffering 
flame  which  flickers  in  a  wind  which  blows  ever 
more  strongly  till  the  vanquished  spirit  is  borne 
down.* 

The  co-existence  of  neuropathic  disturbance,  or  even 
of  insanity,  with  the  inspiration  of  genius  does  not  then 
prove  that  this  latter  is  derived  from  the  former.  It 
simply  proves  that  the  want  of  equilibrium  in  the 
individual  grouping  which  is  the  first  condition  of  the 
decentralised  manifestations,  is  at  the  root  of  genius. 
And  indeed  this  psychological  decentralisation  in  a 
man  of  genius  is  sometimes  pushed  so  far  that  he  may 
behave  as  a  visionary,  may  exteriorise  his  inspirations  and 
objectify  them  till  they  become  hallucinations. 

Another  type  of  neuropath  not  less  curious  than 
the  man  of  genius  is  the  medium. 

The  essential  characteristic  of  this  type  is  an  excessive 
tendency  to  decentralisation  in  the  individual  grouping. 
It  is  by  reason  of  this  tendency  that  phenomena  of 
exteriorisation,  the  isolated  action  of  constituent  elements, 
the  activity  of  cryptoid  faculties,  and  the  incursions  of 
the  supernormal  become  possible. 

The  decentralising  tendency  is  the  origin  of  most 
neuropathic  defects,  but  in  this,  more  than  in  other 
neuropathic  types,  it  withdraws  the  individual  grouping 
from  the  directive  action  of  the  Self.  The  medium  is 
not  master  in  his  own  house;  and  thence,  from  the 
psychological  point  of  view,  three  characteristics  follow: — 

He  is  extremely  impressionable; 

He  is  very  suggestible ; 

He  is  very  unstable  in  his  temper  and  his  ideas. 

248 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

These  characteristics  are  found,  more  or  less,  in 
all  mediums  of  whatever  intellectual  level. 

The  psychological  instability  of  mediums  does  not 
prevent  strength  of  will  and  perseverance,  at  least  among 
those  of  a  superior  type,  but  both  strength  of  will  and 
perseverance  only  appear  when  supported  by  a  suggestion 
or  an  auto-suggestion.  If  these  are  not  present,  a 
strange  falling  off  may  be  manifest ;  the  opinions  of  the 
medium  are  unstable  and  eminently  open  to  surrounding 
influences  when  he  is  not  on  his  guard.  One  may  hear 
him  with  the  utmost  good  faith  from  one  day  to  another, 
sustain  quite  diametrically  opposed  opinions;  indeed 
it  often  happens  that  in  a  short  space  of  time  he  passes 
from  one  extreme  of  opinion  to  another. 

The  want  of  regulating  power  of  the  Self  on  his 
mentality  is  shown  by  marked  tendency  to  disjunctions 
in  the  latter.  These  disjunctions  sometimes  end  in 
the  formation  of  secondary  personalities,  following  a 
sequence  which  we  shall  study  later  on,  and  more 
frequently  to  incipient  duplications;  owing  to  which 
the  medium  is  essentially  complex,  difficult  to  judge, 
and  capable  of  extremely  contradictory  words  and  acts. 

In  daily  life  the  sudden  predominance  of  some  single 
pervading  idea,  impression  or  feeling,  may  constantly 
be  observed;  and  then,  all  the  psychological  powers 
escaping  from  the  control  of  the  Self,  group  themselves 
round  the  usurping  idea  and  give  it  unexpected  force. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  mediums  make  exceedingly 
good  actors. 

This  dominance  by  a  single  idea  may  have  fruitful 
results;  but  in  most  cases  the  pseudo-centralisation 
round  the  idea  lasts  but  a  short  time.  A  new  idea  takes 
the  place  of  the  former,  and  determines  a  new  grouping 
and  a  new  impulse.  Being  at  the  mercy  of  the  momen- 
tary impressions,  the  medium  is  liable  to  a  sudden 
throwing  out  of  gear  of  the  psychic  forces,  thus  producing 
a   disproportionate   effect   in    the   sense   given    by   the 

249 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

impression  which  has  brought  about  the  disturbance. 
He  then  is  impervious  to  any  exterior  influence  and  to 
all  reasoning.  At  such  times  an  external  contradiction 
is  never  accepted. 

When  mediums  are  persons  of  high  intellectual  type 
the  concentration  of  the  psychic  powers  on  ideas  succeed- 
ing one  another  rapidly  and  reinforced  by  this  concen- 
tration, makes  them  brilliant  speakers  and  wonderful 
improvisers;  but  the  quality  of  their  intellectual  output 
is  extremely  diverse,  varying  from  high  inspiration  to 
commonplace  fluency,  and  mere  incontinence  of  thought. 

Just  as  the  neuropathic  defects  of  men  of  genius 
do  not  explain  genius,  so  the  characteristics  or  defects 
of  mediums  do  not  explain  mediumship,  they  are  its 
accompaniments. 

4. NEURASTHENIA 

It  may  seem  strange  to  refer  neurasthenia  to  a  dis- 
equilibrium in  the  individual  grouping,  but  nothing  is 
more  true. 

Neurasthenia  is  essentially  due  to  a  want  of  corre- 
spondence between  the  vital  dynamism  and  the  organism. 

This  disturbance  can  hardly  exist  without  a  congenital 
predisposing  cause,  but  it  may  be  provoked  by  some 
proximate  cause,  a  slight  infection  or  toxic  influence,  a 
defect  of  glandular  secretion,  some  organic  defect  or  a 
reflex  action.  Whatever  the  immediate  cause  mav  be, 
there  is  no  proportion  between  it  and  the  symptoms 
produced. 

The  defective  action  of  the  vital  dynamism  appears 
first  as  a  feeling  of  fatigue.  The  vital  functions,  the 
regular  play  of  the  organs,  all  which  normally  take  place 
unnoticed  and  regularly,  require  a  painful  effort  in  the 
neurasthenic. 

His  sleep  is  disturbed,  there  is  always  insomnia,  or 
hypo-somnia,    which    does    not    completely    arrest    the 

250 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

activity  of  the  brain,  so  that  sleep  does  not  renovate,  and 
fatigue  is  experienced  on  awaking.  During  the  day 
cerebral  work  is  slow,  laborious,  and  marked  by  a  diffi- 
culty in  associating  ideas  and  concentrating  attention. 

The  want  of  equilibrium  between  the  organism  and 
the  vital  dynamism  reacts  more  or  less  on  the  whole 
grouping. 

Thus  neurasthenia  is  not  the  consequence  of  nervous 
exhaustion;  that  is  secondary;  it  arises  from  a  disturb- 
ance in  the  action  of  the  vital  dynamism  on  the  body. 

To  cure  it,  *  tonics  '  are  useless ;  what  is  required  is 
to  regularise  the  relations  of  the  body  with  the  vital 
dynamism,  while  suppressing  also  the  immediate  organic 
cause. 

This  latter  is  readily  accessible  to  medical  science, 
and  neurasthenics  are  always  benefited  when  the  imme- 
diate cause  is  known  and  treated.  But  the  more 
important  point — the  regularising  of  relations  between 
the  body  and  the  vital  dynamism — should  be  studied 
with  a  view  to  more  precise  knowledge  of  this  latter 
and  its  essential  nature.  It  would  be  well  to  try  physical 
agents  whose  dynamism  is  powerful.  Already  the 
sun-cure,  and  life  in  the  open  air  have  produced  dis- 
tinctly good  results,  and  indicate  a  wide  field  for 
experiment. 

Curative  mediumship  deserves  to  be  thoroughly 
studied.  Some  persons  seem  to  be  able  to  exteriorise 
part  of  their  own  dynamism  to  reinforce  the  failing 
powers  of  the  sick.  Some  surprising  cures  have  been 
thus  effected,  some  of  which  seem  to  go  beyond  the 
class  of  nervous  ailments. 


5. HYSTERIA 

Hysteria   is   brought   about   by   want   of  harmony 
between    the   constituent   principles   of  the   individual 

251 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

grouping  and  the  want  of  subordination  to  the  central 
direction  of  the  Self. 

From  the  physical  and  physiological  point  of  view 
this  disharmony,  this  want  of  affinity  and  concord  between 
the  organs  and  the  vital  dynamism,  explains  all  the 
varied  symptoms  and  morbid  localisations  of  hysteria 
— anaesthesia,  hyperaesthesia,  cramps,  paralysis,  and 
nutritive  troubles. 

The  symptoms  of  this  neurosis  are  unstable  and 
changeable,  just  because  they  are  not  of  organic  origin 
but  result  from  imperfect  regulating  power  of  the  vital 
dynamism. 

From  the  psychological  point  of  view,  the  disharmony 
between  the  mentality  and  the  Self  and  imperfect  control 
by  the  latter,  explains  all  those  psychic  defects  which 
are  so  common  and  well  known.  The  hysteric  is  usually 
an  *  inferior  neuropath,'  incapable  of  fulfilling  his  duties 
— an  engineer  who  cannot  control  his  machine. 

Suggestibility  and  *  pythiatism  *  are  consequences  of 
the  feeble  control  of  the  Self;  they  are  not  the  causes, 
but  the  results,  of  the  hysterical  condition. 


6. DEMENTIA 

If  we  take  one  step  farther  and  imagine  a  want  of 
equilibrium  which  is  not  merely  relative  but  absolute 
or  nearly  absolute — a  total  or  nearly  total  want  of  direction 
— we  have  dementia. 

Dementia  is  primarily  anarchy  of  the  mental  elements, 
on  which  the  Self  has  no  longer  any  action;  not  even 
the  limited,  enfeebled,  and  intermittent  control  which 
it  still  retains  in  the  hysteric. 

What  comes  to  pass  when  mental  anarchy  is  firmly 
established  by  the  absence  of  control  by  the  Self  } 

The  psychic  functions  and  faculties,  the  acquired 
knowledge  are  intact  but  undirected.    They  may  show 

252 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

only  incoherence,  but  more  frequently  some  idea,  some 
feeling,  some  elementary  psychic  grouping,  is  formed 
and  tends  to  become  permanent,  producing  fixed  ideas 
and  systematic  delirium. 

The  mental  disharmony  is  not  an  isolated  symptom, 
but  by  reason  of  the  fundamental  solidarity  of  the  con- 
stituent principles,  it  is  always  accompanied  by  a  total 
want  of  equilibrium  of  the  individual  grouping.  Mania 
may  be  ascending  or  descending,  it  may  arise  in  the 
mentality  or  it  may  end  there.  Very  often  it  is  started 
by  some  toxic,  infectious,  or  reflex  trouble  attacking 
the  brain.  In  these  cases  the  symptoms  are  often  mental 
confusion,  maniacal  excitement,  or  melancholia,  some- 
times alternating  with  circular  delirium.  The  frequent 
inheritance  of  insanity  proves  the  importance  of  the 
physical  factor  in  its  genesis. 

In  other  cases  the  origin  may  be  purely  mental, 
and  when  that  is  so  the  insanity  is  generally  partial 
only;  a  certain  amount  of  control  by  the  Self  persists; 
not  sufficient  to  arrest  the  tendency  to  delirium  and  the 
abnormal  grouping  round  a  predominant  idea,  but 
enough  to  leave  some  appearance  of  reason  and  to  permit 
the  continuance  of  psychic  function. 

There  are  many  degrees  in  the  insanity  which  has 
a  mental  origin  and  we  find  every  grade  between  mere 
mental  instability  and  complete  dementia.  There  are 
not  only  the  half-mad,  but  *  quarter  and  one-tenth  mad.* 

The  control  of  the  Self  over  the  mentality  at  the 
actual  evolutionary  level  that  humanity  has  reached  is 
so  imperfect  that  it  is  seldom  perfectly  regular;  and  in 
this  sense  there  is  no  man  who  is  completely  free  from 
some  mental  disequilibrium.  Some  mental  irregularity 
is  almost  the  rule,  perfect  psychic  health  the  exception. 

Whether  the  exciting  cause  be  of  organic  or  of 
mental  origin,  essential  insanity  is  not  strictly  speaking 
a  disease  of  the  brain.  It  is  simply  the  partial  or  complete 
absence  of  the  control  of  the  Self  over  its  mentality. 

253 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  elementary  groups  of  the  latter  are  intact  and  long 
remain  so ;  but  if  the  superior  control  is  not  re-established 
the  prolonged  disorganisation  reacts  on  cerebral  function 
and  ends  in  the  brain  lesions  of  degeneracy. 


7. HYPNOTISM 

Hypnotism  and  its  modalities  are  capable  of  very 
simple  explanation.  Its  manifestations  are  analogous 
to  those  of  hysteria,  with  this  difference — that  they  are 
artificial  and  generally  wider  in  scope.  Hypnosis  demands 
a  certain  predisposition  to  decentralisation,  such  as  the 
mediumistic  temperament.  It  comes  about  by  a  factitious 
rupture  in  the  equilibrium  of  the  individual  grouping. 

The  real  and  true  cause  and  primary  condition  is  the 
decentralisation  of  the  individual  grouping. 

All  the  usual  phenomena  are  then  easily  understood 
— ^automatism,  suggestibility,  modifications  of  person- 
ality, the  substitution  of  an  inner  or  outer  direction  for 
the  central  control,  mono-ideaism,  etc,  etc. 

The  isolated  cerebral  psychism  is  remarkably  sug- 
gestible and  automatic.  Its  manifestations  appear  as 
a  kind  of  inferior  subconsciousness,  very  passive,  and 
unable  to  go  beyond  its  acquisitions  and  habits. 

The  extra-cerebral  psychism  shows  itself  in  cryptom- 
nesia  and  cryptopsychism,  and  its  grouping  into  very 
diverse  personalities.  Sometimes  it  will  reveal  higher 
DOwers  and  supernormal  flashes  due  to  decentralisation, 
and  therefore  to  the  momentary  and  relative  release  from 
organic  limitations.  Hypnotism  resembles  a  half-opened 
door  on  the  cryptoid  portion  of  the  Self. 

What  part  is  to  be  referred  to  suggestion  in  the 
genesis  of  hypnosis  }  Simply  that  it  is  a  frequent  and 
useful,  but  by  no  means  an  indispensable  factor.  Sugges- 
tion, by  itself,  explains  nothing;  it  is  a  secondary  reaction 
resulting  from  lessened  or  suppressed  control  by  the 

254 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

higher  direction  of  the  Self  over  the  decentralised 
individual  grouping.  Hypnotism  may  act,  exceptionally, 
on  the  mental  elements,  but  it  seems  unnecessary  to 
point  out  that  it  acts  chiefly  on  the  cerebral  psychism. 

The  commonplace  hypnotic  state  referred  to  in 
classical  theory  is  primarily  due  to  the  secession  of  the 
lower  group  (the  vital  dynamism  and  the  body)  from 
the  higher  group  (the  mentality  and  the  Self).  This 
lower  group  acts  as  an  automaton,  slavishly,  under  the 
suggestion  of  the  magnetiser.  The  automatism  and  the 
extreme  suggestibility  are  thus  easily  comprehensible. 

Both  in  hypnosis  and  somnambulism  the  automatism 
acts  with  remarkable  precision. 

In  UEtre  Suhconscient  I  explained  this  precision  of 
action  by  the  fact  that  all  the  vital  forces  grouped  round 
a  single  idea  without  consideration  or  distractions  give 
great  power  and  sureness  of  action.  This,  no  doubt,  is 
true,  but  there  is  more  in  it  than  this;  there  appears 
to  be  a  curious  regression  towards  animality.  The  lower 
group,  deprived  of  conscious  direction,  seems  to  recover 
for  the  time  the  sureness  characteristic  of  animal  instinct. 


8. ^ALTERATIONS    OF    PERSONALITY 

Nothing  puts  the  truth  of  our  concept  of  the  individual 
in  a  clearer  light  than  the  ease  with  which  it  enables 
us  to  understand  alterations  of  personality. 

These  manifestations  have,  up  to  the  present,  been 
either  absolute  riddles  or  have  received  pseudo-inter- 
pretations which  have  been  crude  or  meaningless  when 
they  have  not  been  empty  verbalism — distinguishing 
the  subconsciousness  from  infra-consciousness,  super- 
consciousness,  or  co-consciousness! 

The  root  and  original  cause  of  the  phenomenon  is 
the  setting  aside  of  the  central  direction  of  the  Self. 

The    factitious    personalities    are    due    to    isolated 

255 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

manifestations  in  the  psychological  groups  detached  from 
the  Self. 

Isolated  activity  of  the  cerebral  psychism  is  shown 
by  automatism;  or  by  pseudo-personalities  aroused  by 
suggestion — personalities  of  a  commonplace  kind  and 
inferior  order,  devoid  of  originality. 

Isolated  activity  of  the  mental  elements  of  the  extra- 
cerebral psychism  is  the  origin  of  the  multiplication  of 
personalities  of  higher  and  more  complex  kinds. 

The  phenomenon  of  incipient  mental  dissociation 
with  a  tendency  to  duplication,  is  frequent  in  normal 
life,  by  reason  of  the  complexity  of  the  mentality,  of  the 
alternating  predominance  of  certain  groupings  which 
may  be  rivals  or  antagonistic,  and  the  inability  of  the 
Self  to  bring  them  into  harmony. 

But  in  abnormal  states  and  in  certain  predisposed 
persons  this  duplication  of  personality  goes  to  unexpected 
lengths. 

That  true  multiple  personalities  should  appear,  two 
conditions  are  essential. 

Firstly,  a  liability  to  decentralisation,  and  a  certain 
instability  of  the  central  direction — a  weakness  in  the 
individual  *  autocracy.* 

Secondly,  a  defect  in  assimilation  of  the  mental 
elements  by  the  Self.  This  second  condition  is  a  chief 
one.  Without  this  defect  of  assimilative  power,  there 
may  be  decentralisation,  but  no  *  personality  '  worthy  of 
the  name  will  appear. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Self  retains  the  complete 
knowledge  of  states  of  consciousness  and  assimilates 
them.  If  this  assimilation  is  imperfect,  these  states  of 
consciousness  retain  an  irregular  and  centrifugal  self- 
activity  which  tends  towards  isolated  and  distinct 
manifestations. 

The  genesis  of  a  secondary  personality  is  then  easy  to 
follow.  To  begin  with,  there  is  abnormal  activity, 
a  *  parasitic  budding '  in  the  mentality.    An  ill-assimilated 

256 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

grouping  takes  place  round  some  specially  active  thought, 
some  emotion,  tendency,  impression,  suggestion,  or 
auto-suggestion,  as  a  nucleus.  This  primary  group 
partly  escapes  from  the  directing  centralising  control, 
and  collects  round  it  secondary  and  weaker  mental 
elements. 

From  this  point  there  arises  in  the  depths  of  the 
mentality  a  silent  struggle  between  the  parasitic  per- 
sonality and  the  Self.  Most  frequently  the  former  is 
vanquished,  disintegrates,  and  is  assimilated  by  the 
Self.  But  sometimes  by  reason  of  insufficient  directing 
power  in  the  latter,  because  its  evolutionary  level  is 
low,  or  through  a  want  of  affinity  (original  or  acquired), 
or  through  a  congenital  tendency  of  the  grouping  to 
decentralisation,  the  parasitic  personality  prospers  and 
develops. 

It  groups  around  itself  a  larger  and  larger  part  of 
the  mental  activities,  annexes  imaginative  elements, 
strengthens  by  daily  use,  and  soon  a  rupture  becomes 
possible;  a  new  confederation  is  formed  in  the  mentality 
and  there  is  a  secession  from  the  Self. 

Thenceforward  there  begins  open  strife,  with  variable 
results,  with  alternations  of  failure  and  success,  between 
the  Self  and  the  factitious  personality  or  personalities 
for  the  possession  of  power,  for  the  integrity  or  the 
disintegration  of  the  whole,  for  domination  of  the 
psychological  field. 

There  is  no  known  case  of  secondary  personality 
which  cannot  be  explained  as  the  result  of  this  process. 

It  might  be  possible  to  go  further  still,  and  to  suppose 
a  defect  in  assimilation  of  the  mental  elements  by  the 
Self  not  only  within  the  period  since  the  birth  of  the 
actual  vital  group,  but  in  some  anterior  grouping.  On 
this  hypothesis  (which  would  have  to  be  brought  to  the 
test  of  facts),  the  possibilities  connected  with  the  genesis  of 
secondary  personalities  would  be  greatly  enlarged. 

Such  a  one  or  another  of  these  secondary  personalities 

257 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

might  be  the  unassimikted  *  representation  '  of  the  Self 
in  a  preceding  life.  ... 

Among  secondary  personalities  mediumistic  per- 
sonalities should  be  placed  in  a  distinct  class.  By  their 
self-activity,  their  originality,  their  permanence,  and 
their  definite  affirmations  as  to  their  origin,  and  finally 
by  the  supernormal  powers  they  sometimes  manifest, 
they  must  be  made  the  subject  of  a  special  and  separate 
study.     We  shall  consider  them  last. 


9. THE    MODALITIES    OF    INTELLECTUAL    WORK 

GENIUS 

Ordinary  intellectual  work  is  essentially  the  result 
of  close  collaboration  between  the  cerebral  and  the 
superior  psychism. 

In  the  normal  man  during  waking  hours,  the  two 
psychisms  are  fused,  united,  and  homogeneous,  and 
their  output  is  regular,  but  limited  as  to  quality  by  the 
cerebral  capacity.  The  superior  faculties  are  manifest 
only  by  innate  proclivities,  general  capacity,  and 
individual  character. 

During  the  repose  of  the  brain  the  superior  psychic 
activity  persists,  but  it  is  not  perceived  or  remains 
entirely  latent.  Its  action  is  manifest  however  in  the 
well-known  mechanism  of  subconscious  elaboration, 
which  is  wrongly  attributed  to  automatism  of  the 
brain.  This  latter  automatism  only  produces  ordinary, 
incoherent,  and  futile  dreams  of  a  commonplace  kind. 

Logical,  coherent  dreams,  and  those  which  show 
genius,  are  due  to  accidental  repercussion  on  the  cerebral 
psychism  of  the  superior  psychism  which  is  always  active, 
though  unperceived. 

We  may  place  reverie  side  by  side  with  dreams. 
Reverie  means  the  relaxation  of  all  intellectual  effort 

258 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  of  the  full  control  by  the  Self.  Ideas  pass  through 
the  mind  according  to  habitual  associations  and  affinities, 
and  the  Self  looks  on  as  at  a  play;  not  interfering  unless 
to  set  aside  a  disturbing  idea  from  time  to  time,  to  direct 
ideas  in  a  prescribed  sense,  or  to  make  imaginative 
additions. 

In  order  that  intellectual  work  may  reach  its  greatest 
output  and  to  ensure  the  full  collaboration  and  direction 
by  the  superior  and  extra-cerebral  psychism,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  there  should  be  some  relaxation  in  the  centralised 
direction  of  the  individual  grouping. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  extension  of  sub- 
conscious collaboration  and  the  occurrence  of  inspiration 
are  nearly  always  associated  with  the  abnormal  and 
neuropathic  states  which  this  momentary  and  relative 
decentralisation  brings  about. 

Now  and  then  it  seems  that  the  limitation  imposed 
by  cerebration  is  broken  through;  then  the  higher 
faculties  appear,  but  these  will  always  be  impeded  or 
even  diverted  by  the  alternations  between  effort  (i.e. 
centralised  action),  and  relaxation  of  the  synthesis, 
which  latter  implies  relaxation  of  cerebral  limitations. 

Crypto-psychism  and  cryptomnesia,  so  incompre- 
hensible as  mere  cerebral  faculties,  are  readily  explained 
by  the  fact  of  the  higher  subconscious  psychism.  Though 
not  directly  accessible  to  the  will  and  knowledge  of  the 
person,  which  are  normally  bounded  by  cerebral  limita- 
tions, they  none  the  less  contribute  greatly,  though  in 
an  occult  fashion,  to  the  extension  of  the  field  of 
psychic  activity,  of  which  they  constitute  the  main 
part. 

Innate  proclivities,  powers  which  are  not  inherited, 
inspiration,  talent,  or  genius  appearing  apart  from 
voluntary  work,  are  all  explicable  by  the  essential  nature 
of  the  subconscious  psychism  and  the  part  it  plays  in 
the  origin,  the  development,  and  the  functioning  of  the 
normal  individual. 

259 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Inspiration  is  the  result  of  the  free  activity,  increased 
by  liberation,  of  this  higher  extra-cerebral  psychism.  But, 
by  the  very  fact  of  the  decentralisation  which  liberates 
it,  this  activity  only  reacts  on  the  normal  consciousness 
by  flashes,  intermittently  or  fragmentarily,  in  an  incon- 
stant and  irregular  manner. 

That  which  is  called  *  unconscious  work  *  is,  more- 
over, rarely  pure  inspiration.  Most  frequently  it  is, 
we  repeat,  the  result  of  a  kind  of  collaboration  of  the 
conscious  with  the  higher  subconscious  psychism. 

Consciousness  elaborates  or  starts  the  work;  but 
the  limitations  of  cerebral  capacities  do  not  allow  of  its 
satisfactory  conclusion,  whatever  efforts  may  be  made. 
Then  the  collaboration  of  the  subconscious  sets  in  by 
a  latent  process.  It  is  continued  during,  and  especially 
during,  the  repose  of  the  brain  ;  for  the  subconsciousness 
is  then  detached  from  the  physiological  contingencies 
which  affect  that  organ,  and  transcends  its  limitations. 
The  fact  that  this  collaboration  is  unperceived  causes 
its  results  to,  appear  sometimes  like  a  revelation. 

Genius  takes  its  creative  power  from  the  very 
essence  of  the  Self.  It  is  well  to  observe  that  theoreti- 
cally, genius  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  high  degree 
of  mental  evolution  for  its  manifestation.  But  practi- 
cally, in  order  that  its  creations  may  be  durable,  genius 
requires  an  extended  knowledge  of  the  mutual  relations 
of  things,  and  this  conscious  or  subconscious  knowledge 
implies  a  high  evolutionary  level.  It  must  also  be 
remarked  that  genius  does  not  imply  perfection.  The 
diverse  manifestations  of  genius — scientific,  philoso- 
phical, artistic,  religious,  and  so  on — are  not  protected 
from  disharmonies  and  errors.  Reasoned  control  is 
indispensable,  as  we  have  before  observed.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  a  man  of  genius  can  produce  nothing  of 
use  to  humanity  unless  he  is  also  at  a  high  evolutionary 
level. 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 


lO. THE    SUPERNORMAL 

The  appearance  of  the  supernormal  resembles  that 
of  creative  inspiration  and  genius — it  is  conditioned  by  a 
degree  of  decentralisation  sufficient  to  break  for  the 
moment  the  cerebral  limitation  of  the  individual.  From 
the  depths  of  the  subliminal  consciousness  there  will 
sometimes  issue,  as  from  a  window  suddenly  opened  in 
the  opaque  enclosing  envelope,  dazzling  flashes  of 
divination,  powers  of  action  from  mind  to  mind,  or 
powers  superior  to  matter,  released  from  the  contin- 
gencies of  Time  and  Space. 

This  lucidity,  these  apparently  unlimited  powers,  are 
not  really  marvellous;  or  at  least  they  are  neither  more 
nor  less  marvellous  than  all  the  phenomena  of  life  and 
thought. 

There  is  no  hard  and  fast  line  between  the  normal 
and  the  supernormal;  both  have  their  origins  in  the 
vital  processus,  and  the  only  difference  is  that  the  one 
is  familiar  to  us  and  therefore  gives  us  the  illusion  of 
understanding  it,  while  the  other  derives  its  occult 
character  from  the  fact  that  it  is  unusual. 

Supernormal  physiology  presents  exactly  the  same 
mystery  as  normal  physiology:  the  normal  formation  of 
a  living  being  is  neither  more  nor  less  marvellous,  neither 
more  nor  less  comprehensible  than  the  abnormal  forma- 
tions which  mediumship  presents  to  our  view.  It  is, 
we  repeat,  the  same  ideoplastic  miracle  which  forms  the 
hands,  the  face,  the  tissues,  and  the  whole  organism  of 
the  child  at  the  expense  of  the  maternal  body;  or  the 
hands,  face,  and  organism  of  a  *  materialisation  '  at  the 
expense  of  the  body  of  a  medium. 

The  psychological  supernormal  is  but  one  aspect,  a 
hidden  aspect,  of  the  normal  conditions  of  the  individual, 
whose  apparent  consciousness  is  only  the  limited  reflection 
of  his  total  consciousness.     There  is  the  same  mystery 

261  T 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

in  the  creations  of  genius  as  in  lucidity,  the  same 
independence  of  contingencies,  the  same  divine 
reflection. 

In  the  sum  total  of  the  phenomena  of  life,  of  con- 
sciousness, and  of  the  evolution  of  the  individual, 
either  one  apprehends  nothing  or  one  apprehends  all. 
We  apprehend  nothing  when  we  seek  to  refer  the  whole 
being  to  one  of  its  principles,  more  especially  to  the 
crudest — the  material  body;  we  apprehend  everything 
when  we  consider  the  divine  and  permanent  Self  in 
its  passing  and  diverse  objectifications. 

In  fine,  there  is  no  supernormal,  as  there  are  no 
miracles  I  The  supernormal  is  but  the  unusual  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Self,  released  by  decentralisation,  revealing 
itself  by  all  its  powers,  even  those  that  are  highest  and 
most  latent;  in  contrast  with  normal  psychic  life  which 
only  allows  of  narrow  manifestations,  strictly  confined 
within  bounds  of  material  *  representation.* 

Emergence  of  the  *  supernormal '  merely  proves  that 
there  are  in  the  Self  higher  powers  which  are  unused 
and  unusable  during  terrestrial  objectification;  powers 
of  action  from  mind  to  mind  (mento-mental),  extra- 
sensorial  powers  of  divination  and  clairvoyance,  and 
finally  powers  of  dominating  matter. 

We  may  admit,  with  Myers,  that  these  higher 
faculties  which  escape  our  will  during  earth-life,  and 
are  accessible  in  a  relative  and  fragmentary  manner  in 
proportion  to  the  abnormal  decentralisation  of  organic 
limitations,  are  more  completely  accessible  to  us  after 
the  final  rupture  of  those  limitations  by  death.  Especially 
does  it  seem  reasonable  that  these  faculties  now  in  process 
of  development  should,  some  day,  be  fully  available  to 
the  Self.  Their  regular  and  normal  use  will  denote  the 
superior  and  ideally  evolved  life  in  which  consciousness 
will  have  won  its  final  triumph  over  the  original  uncon- 
sciousness. Then  there  will  be  no  *  limitation  '  of  the 
Self  by  the  individual  grouping  which  it  directs.     The 

262 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Self  will  know  all  and  have  power  over  all.     It  will  have 
realised  its  diverse  and  unlimited  potentialities. 


II. MEDIUMSHIP 

Mediumship  puts  great  problems  before  us;  but 
these  become  relatively  easy  in  the  light  of  the  preceding 
ideas. 

The  mechanism  of  mediumistic  action  may  be 
summed  up  as  decentralisation  of  the  individual  grouping 
of  the  medium  and  isolated  manifestations  of  the 
decentralised  portions. 

Sometimes  these  isolated  manifestations  are  carried 
on  in  the  grouping  itself,  intrinsically;  sometimes  they 
take  place  extrinsically,  by  an  actual  exteriorisation.  It 
can  be  seen  how  vast  is  the  field  covered  by  mediumistic 
action : — 

Motor,  sensorial,  dynamic,  and  intellectual  exteriori- 

sations ; 
Different  kinds  of  automatism ; 

An  immense  variety  of  manifestations  of  a  psycho- 
logical order; 
Isolated  action   of  the   cerebral   psychism;    mental 
disjunctions  and  personifications  of  very  various 
natures    and    levels;     Pythian     or    suggested 
phenomena;     crypto-psychic    or    cryptomnesic 
manifestations,   and  those  called  supernormal. 
Thus  understood,   mediumship   is   a  whole  world; 
one  that  defies  any  partial  and  fragmentary  exploration 
and  is  concealed  from  those  who  merely  look  into  a  few 
details,  but  which  reveals  itself  to  the  high  and  clear 
vision  that   contemplates  the  sum  total  of  the  complex 
factors  of  Being. 

To  seek  to  explain  mediumship,  as  some  psychologists 
do,  by  a  series  of  fragmentary  hypotheses  adapted 
to  a  few  of  its  phenomena,  is  useless.     None  of  these 

263 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

partial  explanations  on  points  of  detail  can  have  any 
value  at  all.  Mediumship,  in  all  its  prodigious  diversity 
can  be  understood  only  by  the  knowledge  of  the  actual 
psychological  constituents  of  individual  man,  what  the 
individual  grouping  consists  of,  and  its  possibilities  of 
relative  and  momentary  dissociation;  and,  especially, 
by  knowledge  of  its  metaphysical  essence,  and  of  the 
creative  dynamo-psychism  objectified  in  it. 

If,  and  only  if,  we  take  our  stand  on  this  new  concept 
of  the  Self,  it  becomes  easy  to  comprehend  the  endless 
diversity  of  mediumistic  action.  Nevertheless,  even  if 
we  take  these  precise  notions  on  the  constitution  of  the 
individual  as  our  point  of  departure,  there  will  always 
remain  questions  open  to  controversy  on  the  subject  of 
mediumship. 

Among  these  reserved  questions  two,  more  especially, 
are  open  to  discussion — the  personalities  manifested, 
and  the  teachings  given  by  these  personalities. 

I.  Mediumistic  personalities.  In  all  manifestations 
of  mediumship  is  to  be  observed  a  marked  tendency  to 
*  personification.*  The  mental  disjunctions,  exteriori- 
sations,  cryptomnesic  and  crypto-psychic  phenomena,  and 
powers  over  matter,  are  not  usually  anarchic  or  incoherent; 
they  denote  a  purpose  and  show  direction.  This 
direction  is  by  a  secondary  personality  distinct  from 
the  Self. 

Often  this  secondary  personality  is  insignificant  and 
ephemeral.  Just  as  elementary  exteriorisations  and 
incipient  mento-mental  action  or  clairvoyance — the  'small 
change'  of  mediumship — are  usual  in  the  normal  existence 
of  mediums,  so  also  the  tendency  to  disjunctions  and 
autonomous  personifications  appears  as  a  commonplace 
and  uninteresting  phenomenon. 

But  in  the  favourable  atmosphere  created  by  spiritist 
stances,  or  following  on  frequent  use  or  impulse,  or 
sometimes  spontaneously,  these  manifestations  become 
more    precise     and     accentuated,    and    the    directing 

264 


From  the  TJnconsctous  to  the  Conscious 

personification  then  sometimes  acquires  truly  remarkable 
power,  and  deserves  the  closest  attention. 

What  is  the  origin  and  nature  of  these  mediumistic 
personalities  ?  In  ordinary  disjunctions,  the  secondary 
personalities  which  appear  as  a  consequence  of  mental 
decentralisation  behave  as  usurpers  of  the  place  of  the 
Self.  They  seem  to  aim  at  replacing  the  legitimate 
government;  they  declare  themselves  to  be  the  true 
Self.  In  mediumship,  their  behaviour  is  different — they 
declare  themselves  foreign  to  the  Self;  they  claim  to 
be  distinct  entities.  Usually,  at  least  in  our  day  and 
in  the  west,  they  claim  to  be  the  *  spirits  '  of  the  dead, 
and  say  that  they  only  borrow  from  the  medium  the 
vital  dynamism  and  organic  elements  which  they  need 
in  order  to  act  upon  the  material  plane. 

The  proofs  given  by  them  in  support  of  their  state- 
ments are  generally  vague  and  will  not  bear  examination; 
but  sometimes  they  are  singularly  clear;  they  recall 
the  personality  of  the  deceased,  they  give  minute  and 
unknown  personal  details,  his  native  language,  his 
features  (in  teleplastic  cases),  his-  signature,  etc. 

What  are  we  to  think  of  these  affirmations  }  Are 
they  always  false  .''  Is  mediumship  but  the  domain  of 
deceit  and  illusion.''  Many  students  of  psychism  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  so.  Let  us  reproduce  some  of  their 
arguments.     They  say; — 

*  Mediumistic  personalities  may  well,  in  spite 
of  their  affirmations,  be  only  secondary  personalities, 
their  genesis  being  analogous  to  these  latter.  As  they 
start  from  a  suggestion  or  an  auto-suggestion,  whether 
conscious  or  subconscious,  their  development  and 
their  acquirements  would  be  under  the  same 
mechanism. 

*  None  of  the  proofs  of  autonomy  and  indepen- 
dence can  be  formal.  The  psychological  differences 
in    faculties    and    knowledge    from    those    of    the 

265 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

medium  can  be  explained  simply  by  the  complex 
nature  of  mentality  and  the  extension  of  crypto- 
psychism;  the  contradictions  in  ideas,  character, 
and  will,  may  represent  merely  interior  tendencies 
repressed  by  daily  life  and  escaping  violently  by  the 
safety-valve  of  mediumship.  The  supernormal  may 
belong  to  the  mediumistic  subconsciousness. 

'  None  of  the  proofs  of  identity  can  be  com- 
pletely convincing;  the  origin  of  all  knowledge, 
even  the  most  unexpected  and  secret,  even  that  of 
a  language  of  which  the  medium  is  ignorant,  may 
be  in  cryptomnesia,  thought-transference,  or  clair- 
voyance. 

*  The  new  tests  invented  by  English  and  American 
investigators  (cross-correspondences,  communications 
of  the  same  entity  to  different  mediums  who  have  no 
relations  with  one  another)  are  evidently  at  first  sight 
somewhat  disconcerting  to  our  thesis.  It  is  clear 
that  facts  as  precise  and  extraordinary  as  those  for 
instance,  observed  by  Madame  de  W.,^  seem  to 
indicate  an  independent  and  autonomous  directing 
will.  But  is  not  that  another  illusion  ?  Who  can 
say  if  the  personality  may  not  acquire  by  mediumistic 
culture,  besides  great  autonomy,  a  transitory 
dynamism,  at  all  events  while  the  experiment  lasts, 
a  dynamism  borrowed  from  the  medium  and  giving 
it  the  power  of  acting  on  other  mediums  at  a  distance  }  * 

Of  course,  anything  may  be  possible.  But  when 
arguing  on  mediumship,  all  the  notions  which  we  have 
established  on  the  constitution  of  the  individual  must 
be  borne  in  mind.  These  notions  which  (accepted  in 
their   entirety)   have   extricated   us   from   the   chaos   of 

^Annates  des  Sciences  Psychiques:  'Contribution  a  I'^tude  des  corre- 
spondances  croisdes.'  (In  this  case  'Rudolph,'  the  alleged  communicator, 
in  order  to  prove  his  separate  existence,  gave  parts  of  a  message  to  one 
automatist  in  Paris,  and  other  parts  to  another  at  Wimereux,  near 
Boulogne,  within  the  same  hour  ;  the  parts  making  no  sense  till  combined. 
[Translator's  note.] 

266 


¥rom  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

classical  psycho-physiology,  and  have  enabled  us  to 
understand  the  general  meaning  of  the  individual  and 
the  universe,  also  permit  the  affirmation  of  the  survival 
of  the  Self,  and  its  endless  evolution  from  unconscious- 
ness, to  consciousness.  It  should  be  beyond  doubt  that 
the  Self  both  pre-exists,  and  that  it  survives  the  grouping 
which  it  directs  during  one  earth-life;  that  it  more 
particularly  survives  its  lower  objectification  during 
this  life.  This  may  at  least  be  admitted,  if  not  as  a 
mathematical  certainty,  at  least  as  a  high  probability. 

If  so,  the  manifestation  of  a  '  discarnate  spirit  *  on 
the  material  plane  by  the  aid  of  dynamic  and  organic 
elements  borrowed  from  the  medium  then  appears  an 
undeniable  possibility. 

In  face  of  a  fact  apparently  of  a  spiritist  nature,  one 
attitude  only  befits  the  instructed  investigator — to 
take  good  sense  as  his  guide.  It  is  for  good  sense 
and  sane  judgment  to  appraise  the  statements  of  the 
communicator. 

It  is  in  the  name  of  good  sense  that  English  and 
American  investigators,  weary  of  strife,  and  well  aware 
of  the  disconcerting  subtleties  which  have  been  advanced 
to  explain  the  mental  side  of  mediumship,  have  ended  by 
accepting,  with  striking  unanimity,  the  categorical  and 
repeated  affirmations  of  the  communicators. 

After  Hodgson,  who,  starting  from  absolute  scepti- 
cism, declared  after  twelve  years  of  study  that  there  was 
in  his  mind  no  room  for  even  the  possibility  of  doubt 
of  survival  and  on  the  reality  of  communication  between 
the  living  and  the  dead,  Hyslop,  Myers,  and  more 
recently  Sir  Oliver  Lodge,  have  plainly  given  utterance 
to  the  same  conviction. 

I  refer  the  reader  who  desires  to  form  a  reasoned 
opinion,  to  the  publications  of  these  psychologists,  that 
he  may  weigh  the  value  of  their  arguments.* 

*  See   the   Proceedings   of  the  English  and   American   Societies   for 
Psychical  Research,  and  Sir  Oliver  Lodge's  recent  book,  Raymond. 

267 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

For  my  own  part,  if  I  may  give  a  personal  impression 
of  what  I  have  observed  in  the  domain  of  mediumship, 
I  should  say  that  even  if  in  a  given  case  spiritist 
intervention  could  not  be  affirmed  as  a  scientific  certainty, 
one  is  obliged,  willingly  or  unwillingly  and  on  the  aggre- 
gate of  cases,  to  admit  the  possibility  of  such  interven- 
tion. I  think  it  probable  that  there  is,  in  medium- 
ship,  an  action  of  intelligent  entities  distinct  from  the 
medium.  I  base  this  opinion  not  only  on  the  alleged 
proofs  of  identity  given  by  the  communicators,  which 
may  be  matters  of  controversy,  but  on  the  high  and 
complex  phenomena  of  mediumship.  These  frequently 
show  direction  and  intention  which  cannot,  unless  very 
arbitrarily,  be  referred  to  the  medium  or  the  experi- 
menters. We  do  not  find  this  direction  and  intelligence 
either  in  the  normal  consciousness  of  the  medium,  nor  in 
his  somnambulistic  consciousness,  nor  in  his  impressions, 
his  desires,  or  his  fears,  whether  direct,  indirect,  suggested, 
or  voluntary.  We  can  neither  produce  the  phenomena 
nor  modify  them.  All  happens  as  though  the  directing 
intelligence  were  independent  and  autonomous. 

Even  this  is  not  all.  This  directing  intelligence 
seems  to  be  deeply  aware  of  much  that  we  do  not  know; 
it  can  distinguish  between  the  essence  of  things  and  their 
representations;  it  knows  these  sufficiently  to  be  able 
to  modify  at  its  will  the  relations  which  normally  govern 
these  representations  in  space  and  time.  In  a  word 
the  higher  phenomena  of  mediumship  seem  to  indicate, 
to  necessitate,  and  to  proclaim  direction,  knowledge, 
and  abilities  which  surpass  the  powers — even  the  sub- 
conscious powers — of  the  mediums. 

Such  is  the  deep  impression  resulting  from  my 
own  experiments  as  well  as  from  the  reports  of  experi- 
ments by  other  metapsychologists.  If  my  impressions 
are  correct  it  can  readily  be  understood  why  certain 
series  of  celebrated  experiments  (such  as  those  of  Crookes 
and  Richet),  seem  to  have  had  but  one  outcome:    to 

268 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

bring  these  eminent  men  to  an  unexpected  conviction 
by  the  methods  most  likely  to  produce  a  strong  impres- 
sion. 

2.  In  what  concerns  the  *  teaching '  given  by  the 
communicators,  the  difficulties  of  an  estimate  are  no 
less  considerable. 

These  teachings  are  too  variable  in  nature  and  value 
to  be  made  the  basis  for  rational  beliefs. 

The  contradictions  which  M.  Maxwell*  has  taken 
pains  to  set  forth  are  very  disconcerting  to  any  one  who 
thinks  to  base  his  beliefs  on  them.  But  it  is  not  less 
obvious  that  these  contradictions  are  both  natural  and 
inevitable. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  notions  which  have  been  demon- 
strated above,  a  mediumistic  communication  may  be 
conceived  to  have  either  of  two  origins: — 

{a)  The  communication  may  come  entirely  from  the 
medium. 

In  this  case  it  may  be  due  to  cerebral  automatism, 
or  to  a  mental  disjunction  and  a  factitious  personality, 
or  it  may  be  a  manifestation  of  crypto-psychism  or 
cryptomnesia.  .  .  .  Obviously  then  its  value  will  be  very 
variable.  Intellectual  mediumship  will  be  sometimes 
the  source  of  wonderful  foreknowledge  or  revelations; 
or  sometimes,  and  more  frequently,  of  platitudes,  false- 
hoods, and  errors.  It  may  show  a  superior  inspiration; 
it  may  also  display  a  disconcerting  and  silly  incoherence. 
There  are  all  degrees  and  categories  in  the  products  of 
mental  disjunction;  and  only  those  who  are  ignorant 
can  be  surprised  or  moved  by  them. 

*  We  are  incarcerated  prisoners,*  Maeterlinck  - 
exclaims  poetically:  'with  whom  he  (the  real  Self, 
the  unknown  guest)  does  not  communicate  when- 
ever he  will.     He  prowls  round  the  walls,  he  cries, 

*  Maxwel]  :  Les  Ph^nomenes  Psychiques. 
?  Maeterlinck  :  L'Hdte  Inconnu. 
269 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

he  warns,  he  knocks  at  all  doors;  but  nothing 
reaches  us  but  a  vague  disquiet,  an  indistinct 
murmur  which  is  sometimes  translated  to  us  by 
a  jailer  only  half  awake,  and,  like  ourselves, 
captive  till  death.  .  .  .  In  other  words,  and  without 
metaphor,  the  medium  draws  from  his  habitual 
language,  and  from  that  which  the  sitters  suggest  to 
him,  materials  wherewith  to  clothe  and  identify  the 
presentiments  and  the  unwonted  visions  which  come 
he  knows  not  whence.* 

This  unknown  guest,  this  subconscious  person  is 
not  in  reality  a  single  and  homogeneous  being.  It 
would  be  better  named  *  the  subconscious  complex,* 
which  can  reveal  itself  to  us  under  the  most  diverse 
forms  and  attributes. 

Unity  belongs  to  the  real  Self  only,  as  distinct  from 
the  mental  process  as  from  the  organic  form,  but  retaining 
in  itself  the  memory-total  of  all  representations. 

In  order  that  the  Self,  abstracted  from  organic 
limitations,  should  be  able  to  reveal  its  higher  powers  and 
the  immensity  of  its  latent  conscious  acquisitions,  it 
must  be  able  sufficiently  to  master  its  own  decentralised 
mentality. 

Such  a  condition  rarely  comes  about,  and  it  is  for 
this  reason  that  crypto-psychic  manifestations  are  usually 
fragmentary  and  erratic. 

{b)  Even  if  the  communication  proceeds  from  an 
intelligence  distinct  from  the  medium,  it  may 
itself  be  imperfect  or  falsified,  frequently  both 
and  in  varying  degrees. 

Passing  through  the  mediumistic  channel  it  will 
necessarily  be  limited  by  the  mentality  and  the  cere- 
bration of  the  medium ;  and  as  the  intrinsic  subconscious 
inspiration  has  such  difficulty  in  reacting  accurately  on 
the  brain,  there  is  all  the  more  reason  why  an  extrinsic 
inspiration  should  be  limited,  lessened,  or  deformed. 

270 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Not  only  so;  by  the  very  fact  of  communicating, 
the  communicator  experiences  a  psychic  disturbance; 
a  fact  which  has  been  specially  noted  by  English  and 
American  investigators.  In  borrowing  substance  from 
the  medium,  the  being  takes  on  limitations  as  it  does 
at  birth  by  taking  on  a  body  of  the  substance  of  his 
mother.  By  the  fact  of  communication  on  the  material 
plane  he  undergoes  a  kind  of  relative  and  momentary 
reincarnation;  accompanied,  as  in  normal  reincarnation, 
by  oblivion  of  his  real  situation  and  by  the  suppression 
of  the  greater  part  of  his  conscious  acquisitions. 

If  the  spiritist  explanation  be  accepted,  one  is 
obliged  to  suppose  that  during  the  time  of  manifestation 
through  the  intermediary  of  a  medium,  the  communicator 
finds  himself  irresistibly  brought  under  conditions  which 
were  characteristic  to  him  in  earth-life.  For  these 
reasons,  and  because  of  these  primary  difficulties, 
communicators  may  abound  in  details  of  their  identity 
but  find  great  difficulty  in  giving  precise  notions  of 
their  actual  conditions. 

These  ideas,  if  they  were  capable  of  proof,  would 
tend  to  establish  the  existence  of  an  *  other  side  *  not 
very  dissimilar  to  this  side.  The  '  representation  '  which 
the  discarnate  spirit  would  make  of  it  would  at  least 
recall  the  *  representation  *  which  the  incarnate  Self  docs 
actually  make  of  the  material  world,  though  on  '  planes  * 
more  subtle  and  related  to  all  we  have  previously  noted 
of  the  individual  constitution  of  Man. 

The  information  given  relating  to  evolution  and 
the  transition  from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness  are 
more  precise. 

If,  as  is  logical,  we  take  account  only  of  the  messages 
which  bear  marks  of  high  inspiration  and  superior  will, 
most  of  the  contradictions  disappear. 

All  the  higher  communications  without  exception, 
affirm  the  survival  of  that  which  is  essential  in  the  Self, 

271 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  also  unlimited  evolution  towards  greater  conscious- 
ness and  greater  perfection.  They  all  place  the  ideal 
and  the  purposes  of  Humanity  above  any  dogmatisms. 
All  proclaim  a  high  morality  of  goodwill  and  justice. 

Progressive  evolution  from  the  unconscious  to  the 
conscious  is  not  however  always  referred  to  palingenesis.^ 
The  plurality  of  existences  is  never  denied  in  the  higher 
type  of  communications,  and  it  is  often  implied.  It  is 
so  in  the  admirable  messages  received  by  Stainton 
Moses.* 

But  this  is  of  small  importance.  It  will  evidently 
be  wise  to  take  account  only  of  facts  and  reasoned 
deductions  from  facts  in  constructing  a  philosophy  of 
individual  evolution.  It  is  on  them  only  that  the 
sovereign  beauty  and  the  shining  truth  of  evolution 
by  palingenesis  should  be  based.  It  needs  no  other 
revelation, 

^Palingenesis.  Gr.  irSXtrs again;  7A'e<r«  =prodtictioii.  Used"'  in 
modem  biolo^  for  hereditary  evolution  not  modified  by  adaptation. 
Here  used  in  its  philological  meaning  of  re-birth. — [Translator's  note.] 

*  Stainton  Moses :  Spirit  Teachings. 


PART  II 
EVOLUTION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 


CHAPTER  I 


THE    TRANSITION    FROM    THE    UNCONSCIOUS    TO    THE 
CONSCIOUS    IN    THE    UNIVERSE 


I. THE    UNIVERSE    CONCEIVED    OF    AS    AN    ESSENTIAL 

DYNAMO-PSYCHISM    AND    AS    REPRESENTATION 

We  can  now,  by  a  wide  induction,  refer  back  to  the 
Universe  what  we  know  of  the  individual;  for  what  is 
demonstrated  for  the  individual — the  microcosm — cannot 
but  appear  true  for  the  universe — the  macrocosm. 

Like  the  individual,  the  universe  should  be  conceived 
of  as  a  temporary  representation  and  an  essential  and 
real  dynamo-psychism. 

Just  as  the  individual  organism  is  but  an  ideoplastic 
product  of  his  essential  dynamo-psychism,  so  the  universe 
appears  as  a  vast  materialisation  of  the  creative  principle. 

Finally,  like  the  individual,  the  universe  passes  by 
evolution  through  the  fact  of  experiences  acquired  by 
and  in  representations,  from  unconsciousness  to  con- 
sciousness. 


2. EVOLUTION   IS   THE   ACQUISITION   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS 

Let  us  consider  the  universe  under  this  aspect: — 
In  the  livingbeingwehave  seen  the  original  and  creative 
unconscious  dynamo-psychism  enriched  and  enlightened, 
so  to  speak,  by  conscious  acquisitions.  We  have  noted 
the  progressive  and  unlimited  tendency  to  unification, 
to  harmonious  fusion  of  unconsciousness  with  conscious- 
ness, and  have  been  able  to  infer  that  the  multitude  of 

275 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

evolutionary  experiences  integrally  retained  and  trans- 
muted into  new  capacities,  has,  as  its  result,  the  greater 
and  greater  realisation  of  consciousness  which  absorbs 
the  primitive  unconsciousness. 

In  the  evolving  universe  the  process  is  the  same.  At 
first  it  represents  a  very  ocean  of  unconsciousness ;  then, 
from  that  ocean,  there  emerge  islets  or  icebergs  of 
consciousness.  These  are  at  first  very  small,  very  few, 
and  isolated;  the  waves  of  unconsciousness  frequently 
submerge  them.  But  the  evolutionary  impulse  con- 
tinues; the  islets  grow,  are  multiplied,  and  join.  They 
form  great  continents  whose  summits  shine  in  full 
consciousness;  but  their  base  and  foundations  lie  deep 
in  the  Unconscious  whence  they  arose  and  of  whose 
nature  they  partake. 

Later  on,  in  higher  evolutionary  phases,  the  domain 
of  consciousness  will  in  turn  have  absorbed  into  itself 
the  primitive  ocean  of  unconsciousness  whence  it  was 
derived. 

That  these  propositions  are  of  the  philosophic  order 
is  undeniable;  but  they  are  not  metaphysical  in  the 
proper  sense  of  that  word,  because  their  data  are 
scientific  and  rational. 

"When  it  is  said  that  evolution  is  the  transition  of  a 
potential  and  unconscious  dynamo-psychism  to  a  realised 
and  conscious  dynamo-psychism,  this  is  not  meta- 
physical :  it  is  only  the  expression  in  philosophic  language 
of  an  obvious  scientific  truth.  It  is  a  general  conclusion 
of  a  higher  order  drawn  from  verified  facts. 


3. EVOLUTIONARY    LAWS,    AND    THE    PROBLEM    OF 

FINALITY 

If  we  consider  the  details  of  evolution  we  shall  see 
that  the  transition  comes  to  pass  very  simply. 

The  primitive  evolutionary  impulse  which  is  manifest 
in  the  first  appearance  of  vegetative  forms  and  those  of 

276 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  lowest  animals,  is  obviously  unconscious.  The 
experiments  of  De  Vries  show  that  it  is  anarchic  and 
without  order.  There  is  an  exuberance  of  life  in  all 
directions. 

But  the  secondary  factors,  especially  adaptation  and 
selection  appearing  at  the  same  time  as  the  forms  them- 
selves, come  into  play.  They  do  not  cause  evolution, 
but  evolution  takes  place  conformably  to  their  influence. 
They  bring  about  the  persistence  or  the  extinction  of 
the  forms  which  have  appeared.  They  aid  the  evolu- 
tionary process  by  regularising  it. 

To  this  primitive  phase,  a  second  succeeds:  as  soon 
as  a  rudiment  of  consciousness  appears,  it  also  has  a 
part  to  play.  The  acquired  consciousness  reverts  to 
unconsciousness;  which  it  fertilises  and  enlightens. 
Thenceforward  the  creative  impulse  is  not  anarchic, 
little  by  little  it  becomes  regular  and  concentrated;  it 
obeys  in  some  measure  environing  necessities  in  order 
to  facilitate  adaptation. 

It  is,  however,  not  yet  conscious  in  any  way:  even 
the  appearance  of  the  main  species,  the  transition  from 
the  fish  to  the  batrachian,  from  the  reptile  to  the  bird, 
from  the  anthropopithecus  to  the  man,  were  not  transi- 
tions deliberately  planned.  The  fish  could  not  have 
understood  that  the  batrachian  is  a  relatively  higher 
form;  the  reptile  did  not  consciously  desire  to  acquire 
wings  and  become  a  bird;  the  anthropopithecus  did 
not  understand  that  the  species  Man  would  involve  a 
higher  total  of  psychic  realisations. 

But  these  transitions  came  to  pass  as  if  by  the  obscure 
influence  of  a  need;  as  if  the  function,  potentially 
anterior  to  the  organ,  had  conditioned  the  organ  which 
was  to  appear;  as  if,  in  a  word,  evolution  had  obeyed 
a  marvellous  instinct. 

If  there  are  still  gropings  and  errors  in  this  evolu- 
tionary phase,  that  is  because  instinct  is  not  infallible. 

277  u 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Instinct  represents  the  first  manifestation  of  the 
subconsciousness  collectively,  as  it  does  in  the  individual. 
As  in  the  individual,  so  collectively,  the  subconsciousness 
appears  as  the  intermediary  between  the  primitive 
unconsciousness  and  the  still  future  consciousness. 

The  subconscious  is  no  longer  a  dark  and  chaotic 
unconsciousness;  it  is  the  unconscious  already  illumined 
by  the  reflection  of  realised  consciousness. 

From  the  unconscious  it  holds  all  potentialities; 
from  the  conscious  it  draws  the  general  knowledge 
acquired  through  vital  *  experiences  *  and  instinctive  or 
intentional  aspirations  towards  the  light. 

The  reversions  from  consciousness  to  unconscious- 
ness which  we  have  studied  in  the  individual,  greatly 
transcend  the  limits  of  individuality.  By  reason  of  the 
essential  solidarity  of  all,  the  consciousness  individually 
acquired  reverts  both  into  individual  unconsciousness 
and  into  the  collective  unconsciousness. 

Thenceforward  evolution,  even  of  inferior  species, 
is  in  some  degree  guided  by  a  superior  and  deep-seated 
influence  which  causes  them  to  participate  in  the  general 
progress  that  has  already  come  into  realisation. 

The  appearance  of  principal  species  and  principal 
instincts,  seemingly  conforming  to  some  kind  of  terminal 
state,  which  is  not  pre-established  but  acquired,  can  thus 
be  understood. 

At  the  beginning  of  these  principal  species  and 
principal  instincts  there  is  a  seeming  efibrt  of  *  lucid  * 
subconscious  activity  which  creates  them  with  a  given 
form,  and  with  characters  having  certain  capacities, 
but  also  with  their  special  limitations  in  space  and  time. 
This  effbrt  of  lucid  subconscious  activity  by  reason  of 
the  acquired  purpose  (Jinalite)^  is  always  largely  accordant 
with  the  demands  of  the  environment  in  which  new 
species  will  be  evolved.  The  creation  of  a  new  species 
appears,  in  a  word,  as  a  result  akin  to  genius  in  the 
unconscious,  working  towards  consciousness. 

278 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Acquired  purpose — this  is  the  key  to  the  enigma 
of  transformism. 

The  totality  of  evolution,  like  its  details,  reveals 
an  obvious  purpose  which  neither  selection  nor  adapta- 
tion nor  any  of  the  classical  factors  can  sufficiently 
explain.  But  this  evident  purpose  is  certainly  not  a 
pre-established  purpose,  for  if  it  were,  the  plan  on  which 
it  proceeds  would  not  allow  of  gropings  or  errors. 

It  is  an  acquired  finality,  relative,  and  explicable 
by  the  reversions  from  the  conscious  to  the  unconscious, 
and  is  simply  proportional  to  the  level  of  consciousness 
collectively  attained. 

By  reason  of  the  ideal  adaptation  which  it  implies, 
this  acquired  purpose  alone  allows  of  the  complete 
operation  of  the  classical  factors — natural  selection, 
influence  of  the  environment,  sexual  selection,  segrega- 
tion, migrations,  etc.  Only  this  can  explain  how, 
wherever  life  is  possible — in  water,  earth,  and  air,  the 
most  diverse  forms  of  life  appear;  only  this  can  explain 
the  infinite  variety  in  the  forms  of  life  and  their  narrow 
specialisation.  Only  this  allows  of  comprehension  how 
the  appearance  and  the  development  of  new  organs 
corresponds  exactly  with  precise  needs. 

Only  this  also  can  explain  how  the  development 
of  these  organs  sometimes  goes  beyond  the  need  and 
is  effected  outside  of  adaptation,  as  we  see  in  ornamental 
characteristics. 

The  tendency  towards  consciousness  is  not  only  a 
tendency  towards  intelligence,  but  a  tendency  towards 
all  that  constitutes  a  conscious  psychism,  including  the 
affectional  and  the  aesthetic  senses.  Affectional  and 
aesthetic  instincts  which  are  realised  in  the  more  highly 
evolved  individuals,  revert  into  the  collective  uncon- 
sciousness, and  reappear  as  an  instinct  towards  organic 
perfection  in  the  acquired  finality  and  thus  have  important 
functions. 

Finally,  it  is  only  the  purely  relative  power  of  acquired 

279 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

finality  that  enables  us  to  understand  the  reasons  for 
errors,  gropings,  and  regressions. 

In  this  lengthy  phase  of  evolution,  pure  unconscious- 
ness is  represented  by  the  automatism  of  the  main  vital 
functions,  and  (more  especially)  by  its  infinite  poten- 
tialities. 

Subconsciousness  predominates  in  the  invertebrates 
in  which  it  plays  an  almost  exclusive  part.  They  act 
practically  without  any  thought  and  are  guided  almost 
entirely  by  instinct. 

Among  vertebrates  there  appear  large  *  fringes  *  of 
intelligence,  but  these  fringes  are  not,  as  Bergson  would 
have  them,  a  *  relic  '  abandoned  in  the  transition  from 
the  animal  to  the  man;  there  are  no  cast-off  relics  in 
this  evolution.  These  fringes  of  intelligence  are  con- 
sciousness in  rough  draft. 

Consciousness  develops  little  by  little  as  vital  and 
psychological  experiences  accumulate  and  revert  into 
the  unconscious  which  they  illuminate. 

In  the  superior  animals — the  horse,  the  dog,  the 
monkey,  the  elephant,  etc.  .  .  .  realisation  of  con- 
sciousness has  made  immense  progress;  the  logical  and 
reasoning  faculties  already  play  an  important  part. 
Simultaneously  the  function  of  instinct  seems  to  diminish, 
its  manifestations  are  no  longer  continuous  and  dominant, 
they  have  become  limited  and  intermittent.  Conscious- 
ness, in  fact,  tends  by  its  gradual  realisation,  to  break 
the  bonds  wherein  the  tyranny  of  instinct  confines  the 
activity  of  the  being,  and  to  become  the  substitute  for 
instinct.  The  predominance  of  the  logical  and  reasoning 
faculties  over  instinct  is  indispensable  to  the  evolution 
of  consciousness,  for  the  exclusive  use  of  instinct,  or 
even  its  predominance,  implies  stagnation  in  intellectual 
progress. 

The  testimony  of  the  insect  which  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  invoke  from  another  point  of  view,  again 
illustrates  our  position;   it  proves  that  organic  progress 

280 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  bodily  complexity  are  not  closely  associated  with 
mental  progress.  Physically,  the  insect  is  very  highly 
evolved,  but  its  consciousness  is  very  greatly  in  arrear. 
The  exclusive  predominance  of  instinct  has  put  the 
brake  on  its  progress  towards  consciousness.  There  has, 
in  this  case,  been  what  looks  like  a  spurring  of  nature 
on  a  wrong  road. 

It  is  indispensable  that  instinct,  sure  but  limited, 
should  give  place  to  reason,  which  is  indeed  hesitating 
and  fallible,  but  contains  infinite  capacities  for  develop- 
ment. 

It  is  also  indispensable  that  instinct,  fertilised  by 
conscious  acquisitions,  should  evolve  by  transformation. 
This  is  what  has  occurred  in  the  transition  from  animality 
to  humanity. 

In  Man,  accordingly,  instinct  is  duplicated.  There 
remains  in  him  an  animal  and  physiological  instinct 
which  plays  a  less  and  less  important  part.  There  is 
also  a  higher  instinct  which  is  but  another  name  for 
intuition. 

Intuition  is  instinct  renovated,  idealised,  and  trans- 
formed. 

As  soon  as  this  has  appeared,  consciousness  has 
played  a  great  part.  Conditioned  by  the  subconscious, 
it  conditions  it  in  turn.  From  the  subconscious  it 
receives  its  principal  capacities  and  to  the  subconscious 
are  returned  the  acquisitions  of  consciousness;  leaving 
to  subconsciousness  the  duty  of  preserving  these  and 
transmuting  them  into  new  capacities. 

But  consciousness  is  still  very  limited  by  the  condi- 
tions of  cerebral  organisation,  which  is  the  instrument 
for  psychic  activity  on  the  material  plane.  It  can  only 
partly  utilise  the  unconscious  potentialities.  It  can 
know  scarcely  anything  of  the  cryptomnesic  reserves. 
//  does  not  know  itself. 

The  result  of  this  limitation  and  ignorance  is  to 
favour  evolution  by  causing  many  efforts  in  all  kinds 

281 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

of  directions,  thus  producing  a  multiplicity  of  new 
experiences;  whilst  knowledge  of  its  real  state  and  full 
remembrance  of  the  past  would,  in  the  present  phase 
of  evolution,  be  a  restraint  and  an  impediment  to  the 
thinking  being,  as  likewise  the  regular  use  of  the  higher 
subconscious  capacities  would  limit  effort. 

But  this  limitation  and  this  ignorance  must  be 
passing:  all  past  phases  of  evolution  remain  deeply 
imprinted  on  the  parts  as  on  the  whole. 

The  interpenetration  of  the  subconscious  and  the 
conscious,  which  is  becoming  more  and  more  marked,  will 
necessarily  bring  about  a  perfect  fusion  between  them 
in  higher  evolutionary  phases.  The  complete  memory 
of  the  evolutionary  past,  the  free  disposal  of  original 
and  acquired  capacities,  an  extended  knowledge  of  the 
universe,  and  the  solution  to  the  highest  metaphysical 
problems,  will  all  become  regular  and  normal. 

The  unconscious  will  then  have  become  the 
conscious. 

If  we  would  take  a  comprehensive  view  of  evolution 
such  as  it  is  presented  by  the  new  notions,  we  shall  see 
organic  realisation  proceeding  according  to  the  classical 
simile,  as  an  immense  tree  of  life,  not  as  Bergson  would 
have  it,  as  a  sheaf  of  diverging  rockets. 

Its  principal  and  secondary  branches  represent  the 
diverse  groups  of  plant  and  animal  life,  all  derived  from 
the  trunk  common  to  all. 

The  realisation  of  consciousness  is  effected  from 
complete  unconsciousness  to  complete  consciousness 
by  a  series  of  broken  lines,  which,  starting  from  the  base 
converge  to  a  common  summit. 

These  broken  lines  represent  the  perpetual  passing 
and  repassing  from  life  to  death  and  from  death  to 
life  of  *  the  essential  '  in  the  psychological  elements 
individualised  in  the  Self.  The  theory  of  palingenesis 
enables  us  to  understand  the  return,  by  death,  of  the 
individualised   monad   to   the   central   energy,    and   its 

282 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

restoration  by  life  to  the  place  which  it  fits  according 
to  its  rising  degrees  of  conscious  realisation. 

The  infinite  series  of  broken  lines  thus  rises  directly 
and  logically  from  the  primitive  unconsciousness  to 
consciousness. 

The  human  form  represents  to-day  the  top  of  the 
evolutionary  scale.  How  will  future  realisations  of 
consciousness  appear  .? 

Will  they  be  correlative  to  a  new  complexity  in  the 
present  physical  organisation  }  Or  will  they  necessitate 
new  and  more  perfect  forms  ? 

Will  the '  superman  *  retain  the  present  human  form  } 

To  such  questions  it  is  impossible  to  reply.  There 
are  as  many  arguments  to  be  found  for  as  against  any 
answer  that  can  be  given. 

The  fact  that  we  cannot  discover  any  outline  of  a 
future  organisation,  carries  no  weight  if  the  theory  of 
mutations  is  true.  There  may  be  in  our  subconscious- 
ness or  in  the  subconsciousness  of  the  universe,  some 
latent  preparation,  some  slow  elaboration  of  a  new  form 
which  will  appear  suddenly  when  the  favourable  con- 
ditions obtain. 

This  new  form  would  be  in  conformity  with  all  our 
conscious  aspirations  carried  back  into  the  subconscious. 
It  would  appear  with  an  organism  less  gross,  less  subject 
to  material  needs,  more  free  in  time  and  space  and 
reflecting  at  last  our  ideals  of  intelligence,  balance, 
youth,  strength,  and  health,  our  hopes  of  liberty, 
beauty,  and  love. 

This  form  of  life  and  consciousness  would  dominate 
matter  instead  of  being  as  it  is  now,  in  servitude  to  it. 

But  is  a  more  subtle  organisation  than  the  human  body 
compatible  with  the  needs  of  the  terrestrial  environment  } 

Will  it  be  realised  only  in  other  worlds  }  Is  it 
already  realised  elsewhere  } 

These  are  insoluble  problems,  and  more  tempting  to 
poetical  than  to  philosophic  minds. 

283 


CHAPTER  II 

EXPLANATION    OF    THE    EVOLUTIONARY    DIFFICULTIES 

If  we  look  back  at  the  difficulties  in  explaining  evolution 
by  the  theories  of  classical  transformism  we  shall  see 
them  disappear  in  the  light  of  the  concept  which  has  now 
been  set  forth. 

We  may  understand  that  the  birth  and  evolution  of 
a  world  is  a  vast  materialisation  of  the  universal  dynamo- 
psychism. 

We  may  understand  how  the  greater  can  proceed 
from  the  less,  since  the  creative  Immanence  which  is 
necessarily  the  essence  of  all  things,  contains  all  potential 
capacities  for  realisation. 

We  may  understand  the  origin  of  species  and  instincts 
by  the  vital  surge  of  creative  evolution.  Evolution  is 
thus  distinguished  as  a  genuine  materialisation  of  the 
Idea,  a  materialisation  which  is  progressive  and  dis- 
continuous ;  an  impulse  at  first  anarchic  and  unconscious, 
then  subconscious  and  *  lucid,*  conforming  to  evolutionary 
necessities,  and  coming  about  according  to  a  kind  of 
acquired  (though  unreasoned)  purpose,  finally  developing 
in  the  future  into  one  which  is  consciously  willed. 

W^e  may  understand  the  sudden  transformations 
which  create  species,  and  the  immediate  and  definite 
crystallisation  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  new 
species,  by  the  fact  that  the  creative  impulse,  if  not 
actually  discontinuous,  is  (at  least  apparently)  inter- 
mittent. It  is  easy  to  answer  the  question.  Why  should 
the  creative  impulse  be  intermittent  ?  It  is  so  only  in 
its  visible  manifestations ;  it  is  continuous,  though  latent, 
in  the  intervals  between  manifestations.  Thus  the 
appearance  of  a  new  species  is  prepared  and  determined 

284 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

by  a  subconscious  elaboration  which  passes  unperceived. 
It  ripens  in  the  directing  idea  before  being  abruptly 
transferred  to  matter. 

This  fact  is  not  extraordinary.  If  nature  does  not 
actually  proceed  -per  saltum^  it  is  not  the  less  certain 
that  in  nature  all  manifestations  of  activity  seem  inter- 
mittent, being  preceded  and  followed  by  seeming  repose, 
during  which  a  renewal  of  activity  is  obscurely  prepared. 

The  work  of  nature  may  be  compared  to  that  of 
an  artist;  and  the  comparison  is  not  idle  or  illusory, 
but  really  instructive  because  the  works  of  nature, 
like  those  of  the  artist,  are  founded  in  the  subconscious. 
Both  put  on  modalities  of  the  same  order. 

Case  I.  The  artist  welcomes  all  his  varied  sub- 
conscious inspirations  without  seeking,  controlling,  or 
judging  any.  His  productions  will  be  characterised 
by  a  luxuriant,  unco-ordinated,  and  disordered  exuber- 
ance. It  will  be  the  task  of  the  critic  to  select  among 
them;  only  a  few  will  go  to  posterity;  the  greater  part 
will  be  forgotten  or  will  remain  imperfect  or  abortive. 

This  is  what  comes  to  pass  in  nature  in  the  primary 
phase  of  evolution;  the  creative  impulse  is  at  first 
anarchic  and  disordered;  there  is  an  exuberant  appear- 
ance of  primary  forms  both  in  the  plants  and  among  the 
lower  animals.  Then  the  natural  forces,  represented 
by  the  classical  evolutionary  factors,  do  their  work  of 
selection,  and  permit  only  a  part  of  the  primitive  forms 
to  survive. 

Case  2.  The  artist  does  not  always  consciously  direct 
most  of  his  inspirations,  he  is  subject  to  them.  But 
these  inspirations  are  no  longer  anarchic,  they  obey  in 
great  measure  the  many  unperceived  suggestions  of  the 
environment  in  which  the  artist  lives,  his  considered  or 
unconsidered  intimate  desires,  his  ambitions  and  his 
needs.  They  are  subject  to  a  thousand  contingencies 
of  time,  place,  and  racial  proclivities  by  which  he  is 
governed  unawares.     The   subconscious   work  of  the 

285 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

artist  in  this  case,  even  if  it  is  not  directed  by  a  precise 
effort  of  his  will,  is  nevertheless  in  great  measure  ordered 
and  regularised;  concentrated,  so  to  speak.  There  will, 
however,  still  be  room,  side  by  side  with  magnificent 
realisations,  for  errors,  exaggerations,  and  omissions, 
and  trials  of  effect  which  bear  no  fruit.  And  further, 
surrounding  influences  will  necessitate  long  subcon- 
sciousness brooding  over  new  works  which  will  come 
to  realisation.  His  work  will  be  intermittent  and 
unequal. 

It  is  the  same  in  Nature  after  the  first  degree  of 
conscious  realisation.  Her  creations  are  no  longer 
exuberant  and  anarchic.  The  intermittent  appearance  of 
chief  species  and  instincts  are  in  conformity  with  environ- 
ing necessities  and  vital  needs,  they  obey  the  purpose 
acquired.  But  as  in  the  work  of  the  artist,  side  by 
side  with  the  realisations  which  genius  bring  to  perfec- 
tion, there  will  be  errors,  imperfections,  omissions, 
exaggerations,  and  gropings.  .  .  . 

Case  3.  Lastly  let  the  artist  control  his  productions, 
and  let  them  be  perfectly  conformed  to  the  aesthetic 
sense,  to  high  moral  and  intellectual  purpose,  to  superior 
knowledge,  to  all  that  makes  genius  luminous,  creative, 
and  conscious. 

Such  a  one  does  not  yet  exist.  In  the  same  way 
this  ideal  phase  is  not  yet  realised  in  Nature. 

Conscious  genius  and  the  higher  creation  truly 
penetrated  by  the  divine,  will  be  the  result  of  future 
evolution  when  the  unconscious  shall  have  been  absorbed 
into  the  conscious.  It  will  bring  into  realisation  forms 
of  life  rigorously  in  conformity  with  the  higher  law,  at 
last  released  from  restrictions  and  precise  in  aim; 
it  will  avoid  all  gropings,  errors,  and  evil;  it  will  know 
all  and  accomplish  all. 

In  fine,  collective  evolution,  like  individual  evolu- 
tion, may  be  summed  up  in  the  formula — transition 
from  the  unconscious  to  the  conscious. 

286 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  individual — the  visible  person — subject  to  birth 
and  death,  limited  in  powers,  ephemeral  in  duration,  is 
not  the  real  being;  he  is  only  its  attenuated,  fragmentary, 
and  illusory  representation. 

The  real  being,  learning  little  by  little  to  know 
itself  and  the  universe,  is  the  divine  spark  on  the 
way  to  realise  its  divinity,  of  unlimited  potentialities, 
creative  and  eternal. 

In  the  manifested  universe,  the  different  appearances 
of  things  are  only  the  illusory,  attenuated,  and  restrained 
representation  of  the  divine  unity  coming  into  realisation 
by  endless  evolution. 

Thus  the  constitution  of  worlds  and  individuals  alike, 
is  but  the  progressive  realisation  of  eternal  consciousness 
in  the  progressive  multiplicity  of  temporary  creations 
or  objectifications. 


PART  III 

THE   INFERENCES 

PESSIMISM   OR  OPTIMISM 


CHAPTER  I 

UNIVERSAL    PESSIMISM    AND    ITS    REFUTATION 

A  GREAT  Arab  prince  of  the  tenth  century,  whose  reign 
marked  the  climax  of  the  Caliphate  of  Cordova,  thus 
began  his  last  will  and  testament: — 

*  I  have  now  reigned  more  than  fifty  years,  always 
victorious,  always  fortunate:  cherished  by  my 
subjects,  feared  by  their  enemies,  and  surrounded 
by  general  reverence.  All  that  men  desire  has  been 
lavished  on  me  by  Heaven;  glory,  science,  honours, 
treasure,  riches,  pleasures,  and  love;  I  have  enjoyed 
all,  I  have  exhausted  all! 

*  And  now,  on  the  threshold  of  Death,  recalling 
to  remembrance  all  the  past  hours  in  this  long  period 
of  seeming  felicity,  I  have  counted  the  days  in 
which  I  have  been  truly  happy:  I  have  been  able 
to  find  only  eleven! 

'  Mortals,  appraise  by  my  example  the  exact 
value  of  life  on  earth !  ' 

This  appalling  cry  of  pessimism  from  one  of  the 
great  and  exceptionally  privileged  ones  of  earth  enables 
us  to  understand  the  constant  and  monotonous  complaint 
of  the  intellectually  highest  and  best  of  mankind. 

M.  Jean  Finot  has  collected  from  all  epochs  and 
all  civilisations,  the  testimonies  to  the  endless  pessimism 
which  seems  to  oppress  him  also  with  its  irresistible 
gloom  .1 

*  Behold  a  cheerful  nation  with  an  easy  philosophy. 
It  passes  for  being  a  generous  purveyor  of  remedies 

*  J.  Finot :  Progris  et  Bonhettr. 
291 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

against  the  ill-humour  from  which  its  neighbours 
suffer.  To  this  nation  is  attributed  a  smiling  and 
harmonious  concept  of  life. 

*  This  nation  is  France.  Nevertheless,  to  read 
the  words  of  its  most  representative  minds  is  to  see 
them  oppressed  by  ill,  beginning  with  the  suffering 
of  thought,  and  ending  with  the  suffering  of  love. 
Whether  we  take  Musset,  Taine,  Baudelaire,  Maupas- 
sant, Dumas  fils,  Renan,  Zola,  the  Goncourts,  Leconte 
de  Lisle,  Anatole  France,  or  Sully  Prudhomme; 
Parisians  or  provincials;  cosmopolitans,  poets, 
thinkers  or  philosophers;  all  show  us  a  troubled 
soul  behind  their  melodious  phrases  and  their 
conventional  smile.  .  .  . 

*  Their  predecessors,  Chateaubriand,  Sainte- 
Beuve,  Lamartine,  show  similar  tragedies  present 
to  their  consciousness.  What  are  we  to  say  of 
Bossuet,  Racine,  Corneille,  and  so  many  other 
illustrious  writers  ?  From  all  the  heights  of  French 
thought  comes  the  same  note  of  sadness.  Voltaire, 
of  all  men  the  most  poised  and  attached  to  life, 
says  somewhere  quite  seriously,  **  Happiness  is  but 
a  dream,  but  pain  is  real."  Elsewhere  he  says, 
**  I  do  not  know  what  eternal  life  may  be,  but  this 
life  is  a  bad  joke." 

*  For  Diderot  "  we  exist  only  amid  pain  and 
tears.  .  .  .  We  are  the  playthings  of  uncertainty, 
of  error,  of  necessity,  of  sickness,  of  ill-will,  and 
of  passion ;  and  we  live  among  rogues  and  charlatans 
of  every  kind." 

*  The  moralists  join  in  the  chorus  of  disgust 
with  life.  Larochefoucauld,  Charron,  La  Bruy^re, 
Chamfort,  and  Vauvenarges,  all  make  the  same 
complaint:  *'  Life  is  not  worth  the  trouble  of 
living!  **  And  the  writers  of  other  lands  are 
marked  by  a  despair  which  is  perhaps  louder  and 
less  musical.  .  .  .* 

292 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

M.  Finot  takes  in  turn  the  dominant  note  in  the 
state  of  mind  evidenced  by  the  literatures,  the  philosophies 
and  the  religions  of  all  times  and  all  places,  and  finds 
everywhere  and  always  the  same  pessimism  out- 
weighing the  optimism  of  the  few  who  are  happy  or 
illusionised. 

The  works  of  Schopenhauer  merely  condense  all  this 
general  pessimism.  His  philosophy,  which  sums  up  the 
truths  known  to  his  time,  and  is  their  natural  and  true 
expression,  could  not  but  be  pessimist.  *  To  work  and 
suffer  in  order  to  live;  to  live  in  order  to  work  and 
suffer,'  seemed  to  him  the  emblem,  not  of  humanity  only, 
but  of  all  life. 

Since  Schopenhauer,  new  truths  have  illuminated 
natural  philosophy;  evolution  has  been  the  leading  idea. 

What  are  its  conclusions  to  be  ?  Will  they  also 
yield  to  pessimism  ?  Do  they  allow  us  a  rational  antici- 
pation of  a  reign  of  happiness  ? 

For  von  Hartmann,  evolution  and  pessimism  go 
together. 

M.  Harald  Hoffding^  remarks: — 

*  The  ethic  of  Hartman  is  closely  connected  with 
his  pessimistic  theories.  He  sees  an  inevitable 
incompatibility  between  civilisation  and  happiness. 
The  progress  of  civilisation  is  marked  by  a  reduction 
of  happiness.  The  more  complicated  the  mechanism 
of  life  becomes,  the  more  chances  of  misfortune 
there  are.  Sensibility  to  pain  becomes  greater,  and 
increasing  capacity  for  thought  only  perceives 
illusions  the  more  surely.  Civilisation  increases 
wants  more  rapidly  than  the  means  of  satisfying 
them.  Therefore  it  becomes  necessary  to  choose 
between  civilisation  and  happiness — between  the 
theory  of  civilisation  and  that  of  happiness.  Happiness 
presupposes   calm   and   peace,  and   for  this   reason 

*  Harald  Hoffding  :    Histoire  de  la  Philosophic  Moderne. 

293  Z 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

brings  stagnation  and  extinction;    Evolution  leads 
us  on  until  all  possibilities  are  exhausted/ 

M.  Jean  Finot  has  vigorously  traversed  the  concepts 
of  pessimistic  evolution.  He  thinks  that  evolution, 
properly  understood,  leads  to  optimism;  not  the  sancti- 
monious optimism  of  Sir  John  Lubbock,  but  a  rational 
optimism,  based  on  the  progress  of  humanity  from  all 
points  of  view.  Indeed,  if  we  consider  all  the  aspects 
of  progress — social,  individual,  scientific,  legal,  medical, 
hygienic,  etc.  ...  we  see  clearly  a  very  considerable 
reduction  in  the  causes  of  suffering  as  time  goes  on. 

Humanity  has  carried  on  a  more  and  more  successful 
struggle  against  harsh  nature,  against  cold,  heat,  hunger, 
distance,  sickness,  and  so  on.  Above  all,  customs  have 
become  more  humane.  Everything  shows  this;  and 
concurrently  with  a  diminution  of  suffering,  evolution 
implies  an  increase  in  the  power  of  knowing  and  in  the 
capacity  for  feeling. 

Joy — ^the  predominance  of  happiness-bought  to 
result  mathematically  from  this  double  and  inverse 
movement — enlargement  of  the  field  of  consciousness 
and  the  faculties  of  sensation,  and  consequently  of  the 
sources  of  happiness;  and  a  correlative  reduction  in  the 
causes  of  pain. 

We  have  then  before  us  two  opposite  theses,  both 
based  on  evolution.     Which  of  them  is  true  } 

An  impartial  examination  of  the  facts  can  alone 
decide. 

If  we  consider  only  the  actual  state  of  humanity, 
it  is  clear  that  the  pessimistic  theory  is  still  the  only 
one  that  can  be  sustained.  There  is  no  need  of  pro- 
longed reasoning  or  pathetic  rhetoric  in  its  support. 
We  need  not  even  appeal  to  the  present  spectacle  of 
the  limitless  folly  of  man,  putting  the  whole  power  of 
science  into  the  service  of  Evil  in  a  world-wide  war 
destructive  of  all  beauty  and  all  joy;    nor  even  the 

294 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

individual  catastrophes  which  are  the  common  events 
of  life. 

It  will  suffice  to  take  an  average  normal  human  life, 
that  of  a  man  placed  in  ordinary  circumstances  and  of 
ordinary  understanding;   and  to  consider  it  coolly. 

What  does  his  existence  consist  in  ? 

During  one  quarter  of  a  century  he  works  to  acquire 
the  means  of  livelihood ;  for  another  quarter  he  struggles 
amid  perpetual  anxieties  to  make  these  means  of  life 
give  a  sufficient  return;  then  he  dies  without  knowing 
exactly  why  he  has  lived  at  all.  *  To  will  without  motive, 
always  suffering,  always  struggling,  then  to  die,  and 
so  without  end,  century  after  century,  until  the  crust 
of  the  planet  breaks  into  pieces  I  *  cries  Schopenhauer. 

What  pains  and  sorrows,  what  anxieties  and  disap- 
pointments during  the  short  quarter  century  during 
which  the  man  *  enjoys  '  his  gains;  ephemeral  youth 
with  its  short-lived  illusions;  a  life  worn  down  by 
preparation  for  living;  hopes  always  disappointed  and 
always  renewed;  a  few  flowers  culled  by  the  wayside 
of  life  and  soon  faded;  a  few  instants  of  repose,  and 
then  the  weary  march  forward  again.  Personal  anxieties; 
family  worries;  heavy  and  ceaseless  work;  vexations, 
disillusions,  and  deceptions;  such  is  the  common  lot 
of  mortals.  For  those  who  have  an  ideal  it  is  even 
worse;  some  intoxications  in  the  pursuit  of  illusions 
and  heart-breaking  discovery  of  impotence  to  attain 
them.  Where  is  the  man  who,  like  the  great  Caliph,  on 
reckoning  up  his  days  of  complete  happiness  could 
count  on  finding  eleven  }  Who  is  he  who  could  find 
one  single  day  of  undiluted  happiness. 

If  we  consider  life  as  it  actually  is  to  be  the  summit 
of  evolution,  Schopenhauer's  pessimism  is  justified  a 
thousand  times  over.  Yes,  it  is  replied,  but  humanity 
and  life  have  as  yet  realised  but  a  small  part  of  their 
possibilities  of  happiness.  Progress  is  continuous. 
Comparison  with  past  centuries  gives  a  glimpse  of  future 

295 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

ones.  Better  still,  it  is  not  forbidden  to  hope  from  human 
evolution  a  triumph  over  matter  itself — an  organism 
less  liable  to  sickness,  and  the  incidence  of  old  age  put 
back;  a  psychism  more  conscious,  more  detached  not 
from  ignorance  only,  but  above  all  from  the  base  and 
wicked  sentiments  which  still  pervade  humanity  as  it  is. 
We  may  hope  for  an  era  with  fewer  sufferings,  less 
poverty,  and  fewer  repulsive  diseases.  From  the  night 
of  misfortunes  and  sufferings,  lightened  by  a  few  passing 
rays  of  joy  we  may  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  dawn  of  happi- 
ness in  which  the  pale  shadows  of  residual  pain  will  but 
bring  into  relief  bright  and  harmonious  beauty. 

We  may  hope  all  this!  We  may  imagine  humanity 
one  day  reaching  this  ideal;  but  such  a  humanity  will 
establish  its  victory  only  on  hecatombs  of  vanished  men. 
Thus  for  centuries  and  centuries  men  will  have  suffered 
in  order  that  their  privileged  descendants  may  at  last 
reach  happiness ;  a  happiness  which  they  will  have  deserved 
no  more  than  their  progenitors  had  deserved  their 
miseries  I 

All  the  efforts,  the  sorrows,  the  infinite  pains  of  the 
former  will  have  ended  in  this  single  result — the 
monstrous  building  up  of  this  privilege  for  their 
posterity. 

There  is  in  this  concept  such  injustice  as  would 
suffice  to  bring  us  irresistibly  back  into  philosophic 
pessimism. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Even  the  concept  of  an  ideally 
privileged  humanity,  highly  evolved  and  happy,  is  weak 
in  its  foundations.  This  humanity  would  see  its  happy 
life  poisoned  by  the  idea  of  inevitable  and  approaching 
annihilation.  The  thought  of  death  as  the  end  of  all 
would  be  unendurable  to  hypersensitive  beings  unpre- 
pared by  daily  trials  for  the  renunciation  of  life  itself. 

The  man  of  the  future,  we  are  told,  will  travel  on 
a  wide  and  easy  road  through  a  dream-country  in  which 
every  one  of  his  senses  will  bring  him  joy!     Vanity! 

296 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

He  will  but  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  dream-country 
between  the  tombs  which  border  the  way — tombs  of 
ancestors,  of  parents,  of  dearest  friends,  sometimes  of  his 
children,  and  straight  before  him  there  will  be  his  own, 
which  will  gape,  great  and  terrifying,  growing  larger 
at  every  step  he  takes  and  hiding  the  view  and  the 
horizon.  At  every  turn  and  stage  of  life,  in  the  midst 
of  every  joy,  his  ear  will  hear  the  knell — *  Brother, 
thou  must  die.* 

In  order  that  the  vision  may  change;  that  the  thought 
of  death  may  lose  its  sterilising  character  and  its  apparent 
curse,  the  evolutionary  idea  must  receive  its  natural 
complement — the  teaching  of  re-birth.  Then  all  becomes 
clear — the  tombs  are  no  longer  tombs;  they  are  but 
transitory  harbours  after  the  voyage  of  life, — beds  of 
repose  for  the  closing  day.  They  will  neither  inspire 
fear  nor  hide  the  horizon;  they  only  mark  a  stage  accom- 
plished in  the  blessed  ascent  towards  consciousness  and 
life.  Beyond  the  tomb,  with  unfailing  prescience  we 
see  henceforth  the  march  resumed,  less  weary,  with  new 
horizons,  a  larger  outlook  in  a  more  intimate,  purer, 
happier  communion  with  the  Infinite. 

And  as  with  the  idea  of  palingenesis  the  funereal 
attributes  of  death  disappear,  so  also  the  monument  of 
injustice  raised  by  classical  evolution  crumbles  down. 
In  evolution  there  are  no  longer  those  who  are  sacri- 
ficed and  those  who  are  privileged.  All  the  efforts, 
both  individual  and  collective,  all  the  sufferings  will 
have  ended  in  the  building  up  of  happiness  and  the 
realisation  of  justice;  but  a  happiness  and  a  justice  for 
all. 

The  end  and  purpose  of  life  are  henceforth  com- 
prehensible, and  we  find  them  conformable  to  our  dearest 
hopes. 

In  our  concept  of  the  universe  there  is  no  place  for 
a  pessim.ist  philosophy  which  was  derived  only  from  a 

297 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

false  outlook  on  things.  No!  the  Single  Essence,  by 
whatever  name  it  may  be  called,  creative  of  numberless 
representations,  does  not  end  in  materialising  itself  in 
a  vain  phantasmagoria  of  worlds,  of  forms,  of  beings — 
without  past  and  without  future,  absurd  representations, 
incoherent,  nonsensical  worlds,  empty  phantoms  gone 
almost  as  soon  as  created,  and  vanished  without  leaving 
a  trace! 

No!  And,  a  fortiori^  that  essence  does  not  materialise 
worlds  of  pain  serving  no  purpose  but  as  theatres  for  a 
drama  of  universal,  undeserved,  useless,  and  fruitless 
suffering! 

The  fugitive  representations  are  neither  incoherent 
nor  unfortunate;  it  is  through  them  and  by  them  that 
the  one  essence  which  is  the  sole  reality,  comes  at  last 
to  self-knowledge,  through  the  innumerable  experiences 
which  it  brings  with  it,  individually  and  collectively,  in 
its  parts  and  as  a  whole. 

These  representations,  at  last  understood,  reveal  a 
governing  harmony;  from  them  issues  the  supreme 
end,  a  purpose  truly  divine.  This  harmony  is  the 
immanent  concord  of  each  with  others,  the  close  solidarity 
of  the  individualised  parts  of  the  one  principle,  and  their 
inviolable  union  in  the  All.  The  aim  is  the  acquisition 
of  consciousness,  the  unlimited  transition  from  the 
unconscious  to  the  conscious;  this  transition  is  the 
release  of  all  potentialities;  it  is  the  realisation  in 
evolution  of  Sovereign  Intelligence^  Sovereign  Justice,  and 
Sovereign  Good, 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    REALISATION    OF    SOVEREIGN    CONSCIOUSNESS 

That  which  is  *  essential  *  in  the  universe  is  eternal  and 
indestructible  \  permanent  through  all  the  transitory  appear- 
ances of  things. 

That  which  is  essential  in  the  universe  passes^  by 
evolution^  from  the  unconscious  to  the  conscious. 

Individual  consciousness  is  an  integral  part  of  that 
which  is  essential  in  the  universe^  and  itself  indestructible 
and  eternal^  it  evolves  from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness. 

The  first  of  these  three  primordial  data  of  our  philosophy 
is  unanimously  admitted.  At  all  events  it  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  the  great  philosophical  systems  belonging  to 
all  ages  of  the  world. 

To  deny  it  would  imply  the  absolute  bankruptcy  of 
the  philosophical  mind;  it  would  be  to  deny  philosophy 
itself.  This  premise,  moreover,  is  no  longer  an  a  priori^ 
a  postulate  by  the  mind  of  genius :  it  rests,  as  we  have 
demonstrated,  on  a  solid  and  positive  basis. 

Intuition,  reason,  and  facts,  show  us  with  one  accord 
under  innumerable  formal  representations  which  are 
temporal  and  spatial  and  therefore  (like  Time  and  Space) 
illusory,  a  dynamo-psychism  which  alone  is  endowed 
with  unity  and  permanence;  that  is  to  say,  which  alone 
is  real. 

The  second  idea,  though  more  open  to  question, 
is  really  forced  upon  us  by  all  considerations  relating 
to  evolution.  The  transition  from  unconsciousness  to 
consciousness  is  the  one  thing  which  is  most  striking 
and  undeniable  in  evolution.  The  procession  of  forms 
of  life  admits  of  gropings,  mistakes,  arrest,  and  even 

299 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

retrogression ;  but  the  development  of  consciousness  as 
a  whole  is  continuous.  There  is  more  general  conscious- 
ness in  the  reptiles  of  the  secondary  epoch,  than  in  the 
invertebrates  and  fish  of  the  primary  epoch;  still  more 
general  consciousness  in  the  mammals  of  the 
tertiary;  and  yet  more  in  the  quaternary  when  man 
appears. 

Comparing  one  species  with,  another,  there  is  only 
one  certain  criterion  of  evolutionary  superiority — the 
degree  of  consciousness  acquired.  That  superiority 
consists  neither  in  organic  complexity  nor  in  its  perfec- 
tion; it  is  not  physical  power;  nor  adaptation  to  some 
privileged  function  such  as  flight;  it  is  only  the  degree 
of  consciousness  acquired. 

To  evolve  is  really  to  develop  consciousness  of  one's 
real  state,  of  the  state  of  the  environing  world,  of  the 
relations  established  between  the  living  being  and  his 
surroundings,  between  the  immediate  surroundings  and 
the  whole  environment. 

The  development  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  the 
perfecting  of  the  means  to  diminish  pain  or  to  satisfy 
human  needs,  are  not  in  themselves  the  purposes  of 
evolution.  They  are  but  consequences  of  the  realisation 
of  the  essential  aim,  which  is  the  acquisition  of  a  larger 
and  larger  sphere  of  consciousness;  and  all  general 
progress  has  the  enlargement  of  the  field  of  consciousness 
as  its  preliminary  condition. 

All  this  is  undeniable  and  undenied,  and  it  is  only 
a  perfectly  legitimate  inference  that  the  summit  of 
evolution,  in  the  measure  that  we  can  conceive  of  this 
summit,  should  be  the  realisation  of  a  general  conscious- 
ness unbounded  and  quasi-omniscient — a  consciousness 
truly  divine  and  bringing  with  it  the  solution  of  all 
problems. 

It  is  the  province  of  the  Conscious  to  subdue  to 
itself,  little  by  little,  the  vast  area  of  the  Unconscious 
from  which  it  arose. 

300 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

If  the  two  first  data  of  our  philosophy  are  undeniable 
and  generally  undenied,  this  is  not  the  case  with  the 
third.  The  permanence  and  unlimited  development 
of  the  individual  consciousness  are  denied  by  most 
philosophers,  even  by  those  who  have  admitted  our 
general  concept  of  things. 

Averroes  and  Schopenhauer  are  in  agreement  with 
contemporary  materialists  on  this  point.  For  them, 
personal  consciousness  is  a  cerebral  function  appearing 
with  the  organism  and  disappearing  with  it.  Like  the 
body,  that  consciousness  is  a  passing  and  ephemeral 
phenomenon  indissolubly  linked  to  its  proper  repre- 
sentation. 

We  maintain  on  the  contrary  that  the  individual 
consciousness  is  an  integral  part  of  that  which  is  essential 
and  permanent  in  the  living  being,  that  it  pre-exists 
and  survives  all  successive  organisations — all  objecti- 
fi cations  or  representations  of  the  eternal  essence; 
keeping  the  entire  remembrance  of  these  representations, 
and  growing  step  by  step  with  all  the  experiences  which 
they  involve. 

Doubtless  the  permanence  of  the  individual  con- 
sciousness is  contrary  to  appearances,  because  the  major 
part  of  its  gains  remains  subconscious  and  latent  during 
the  period  of  a  terrestrial  life;  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  this  should  appear  an  absurdity  to  the  vulgar  crowd, 
unless  indeed  it  be  made  into  an  article  of  faith  for 
them. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  as  regrettable  as  it  is  sur- 
prising that  a  philosopher  of  Schopenhauer's  genius 
should  have  shared  the  opinion  of  the  crowd  without 
discussing  it. 

The  permanence  of  the  individual  consciousness  has 
a  double  demonstration  to  support  it — the  scientific  and 
the  metaphysical. 

It  is  quite  natural  that  the  scientific  demonstration, 
being  based  on  facts  still  unknown  in  Schopenhauer's 

301 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

day,  should  have  escaped  his  notice,  but  it  is  all  the 
more  difficult  to  understand  his  blindness  to,  or  his 
prejudice  against  the  metaphysical  demonstration. 

The  metaphysical  proofs  for  the  permanence  of  the 
individual  consciousness  are  two. 

The  first  is  presented  to  our  view  by  the  field  of 
nature.  Schopenhauer  remarks  that  nature  seems 
everywhere  and  always  to  consider  death,  which  is 
apparently  so  much  to  be  dreaded,  as  an  unimportant 
incident.     She  expresses  this 

*  by  delivering  over  the  life  of  every  animal  and 
of  man  himself  to  the  most  insignificant  accidents, 
without  interfering  to  save  any.  Think  of  the  insect 
placed  on  your  path;  the  least  deviation,  the  most 
involuntary  movement  of  your  foot  decides  its  life 
or  its  death.  Look  at  the  slug,  deprived  of  all 
powers  of  fleeing,  resisting,  defending  itself,  or 
hiding — a  prey  to  the  first  enemy  that  comes.  Look 
at  the  fish  playing  unconscious  in  the  net  about  to 
close;  the  frog,  whose  rnere  indifference  is  the  bar 
to  its  escape;  look  at  the  bird  unconscious  of  the 
hawk  that  hovers  over  it;  the  sheep  whom  the  wolf 
.  watches  from  its  hiding-place.  Provided  with  only 
the  shortest  foresight,  all  these  creatures  play  in 
the  midst  of  dangers  which  menace  their  every" 
moment.  These  creatures,  made  with  such  con- 
summate art,  are  abandoned,  without  hope  of  return, 
not  only  to  the  violence  of  the  stronger,  but  to  the 
merest  chance,  to  mischievous  instinct  of  the  first 
comer,  to  the  waywardness  of  children. 

*  Does  not  this  amount  to  a  declaration  by 
Nature  that  the  annihilation  of  the  individual  is  a 
matter  of  indifference.  Nature  very  plainly  declares 
this,  and  she  never  lies.  Well,  if  the  Mother  of  all 
things  cares  so  little  as  to  throw  her  children  into 
the  midst  of  a  thousand  environing  dangers,  that 

302 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

must  be  only  because  of  the  certainty  that  if  they 
fall,  they  fall  back  on  her  own  breast,  where  they  are 
in  shelter;  so  that  their  fall  is  but  a  jest.  ...  If 
our  sight  could  penetrate  to  the  foundation  of 
things  we  should  think  as  Nature  does.  Fortified  by 
this  thought,  we  should  explain  the  indifference  of 
Nature  to  the  death  of  individuals,  by  the  fact  that 
the  destruction  of  phenomena  in  no  way  touches 
the  true  and  real  essence.* 

The  argument  of  this  great  thinker  does  not  concern 
life  alone;   it  adapts  itself  wonderfully  to  consciousness. 

Personal  consciousness  is  as  ephemeral  as  the  earthly 
life  to  which  it  seems  to  be  linked.  Yet  more,  nature 
seems  to  set  no  special  value  on  the  perfection  or  the 
extent  of  personal  consciousness.  The  intellectuality 
of  the  senseless  crowd,  of  the  formless  mass  and  mere 
dust  of  humanity  are  under  the  same  chances  as  the 
higher  intellectuality  of  the  great  men  who  seek  to 
guide  the  masses;  the  rudimentary  consciousness  of 
the  Russian  peasant,  little  above,  if  it  is  at  all  above, 
animal  consciousness,  and  that  of  a  Newton,  a  Pasteur, 
or  a  Schopenhauer,  are  treated  alike.  If  these  marvellous 
intelligences  whose  entrance  on  life  has  required  inde- 
scribable efforts  of  evolution  prolonged  through  centuries 
— intelligences  that  actually  sum  up  all  the  perfection 
that  evolution  has  as  yet  engendered,  are  abandoned 
without  hope  of  return  to  the  merest  chance,  to  con- 
tamination of  the  body  by  a  microbe,  or  even  to  senile 
decay,  does  not  this  amount  to  a  declaration  of  Nature 
that  the  disappearance  of  personal  consciousness,  however 
elevated  it  may  be,  is  a  matter  of  indifference,  or,  which 
comes  to  the  same  thing,  that  this  disappearance  is  only 
seeming  disappearance  ? 

Yes!  If  the  Mother  of  all  things  cares  so  little 
for  her  highest  realisation — personal  consciousness 
— that  can  be  only  because  of  the  certainty  that  when 

303 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

this  personal  consciousness  seems  to  vanish,  it  returns 
to  the  shelter  of  her  own  breast. 

If  our  insight  penetrates  far  enough  to  the  founda- 
tion of  things,  we  think  as  Nature  does. 

We  then  know  how  to  explain  the  absolute  confidence, 
this  complete  indifference  of  Nature  to  the  disappearance 
of  personal  consciousness;  the  seeming  end  is  not  really 
the  end,  for  it  cannot  touch  the  true  and  real  essence  of 
the  individual,  nor  his  realised  consciousness,  which, 
like  that  essence  and  with  that  essence, — the  divine 
spark — ^is  pre-existent,  surviving,  and  eternal. 

What,  then,  does  death  matter  }  It  destroys  only 
a  semblance,  a  temporary  representation.  The  true 
and  indestructible  individuality  assimilates  and  so  pre- 
serves all  the  acquirements  of  the  transitory  personality; 
then  bathed  for  a  time  in  the  waters  of  Lethe,  it  material- 
ises anew  in  personality  and  thus  continues  its  evolution 
indefinitely.  Yes,  that  is  what  Nature  teaches  us  very 
clearly  and  Nature  never  lies. 

To  this  first  metaphysical  proof,  another,  not  less 
remarkable,  may  be  added.  If  the  realisation  of  con- 
sciousness is  really  the  undeniable  end  of  evolution,  it  is 
not  possible  to  imagine  the  disappearance  and  annihila- 
tion of  individual  consciousness. 

Let  us  imagine  general  evolution  very  far  advanced; 
let  us  suppose  it  ideally  developed  to  a  point  not  far 
removed  from  omniscience,  as  it  must  necessarily  be 
some  day.  Nothing  in  time  or  in  space  could  escape 
such  a  universal  consciousness,  to  which  time  and  space 
would  be  relatively  meaningless. 

Would  this  universal  consciousness  have  all  know- 
ledge with  the  one  exception  of  the  individual  states 
which  it  had  passed  through  in  its  evolution  }  That  is 
impossible;  the  universal  consciousness  must  necessarily 
contain  the  sum  of  individual  consciousnesses,  it  would, 
in  fact,  be  their  sum  and  totality. 

We  have  then    the    choice    of   alternative— either 

304 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

evolution  is  not  the  realisation  of  consciousness,  or,  if  it 
is,  it  necessarily  implies  the  remembrance  and  the 
knowledge  of  all  past  states  of  consciousness. 

It  matters  little  from  the  philosophic  point  of  view 
that  this  remembrance  and  knowledge  should  be  acquired 
late  and  at  the  ideal  summit  of  evolution ;  the  essential 
thing  is  that  they  be  not  destroyed.  Time  does  not 
affect  the  question.  Philosophy  may  maintain  no 
more  than  this — that  the  consciousness  of  individuality 
may  be  lost  temporarily  by  the  destruction  of  the  organism 
but  that  it  cannot  be  annihilated;  that  it  becomes  latent, 
and  remains  latent,  till  the  height  of  consciousness 
attained  revives  it  by  awakening  it  from  its 
sleep. 

This  concept  differs  from  the  one  which  has  been 
set  forth  in  the  preceding  chapters  only  under  the  mode 
of  time,  which  is  of  no  philosophical  importance. 
Essentially,  both  concepts  are  the  same. 

These  are  the  metaphysical  proofs  for  the  permanence 
of  the  individual  consciousness.  They  have  obviously 
no  more  weight  than  attaches  to  metaphysical  proofs 
generally;  however  undeniable  their  cogency,  they 
cannot  stand  in  lieu  of  scientific  demonstration. 

The  whole  of  this  book  in  its  entirety  is  that  scientific 
demonstration.  By  referring  to  the  preceding  chapters 
the  reader  will  see  the  steps  by  which  we  have  been  able 
to  deduce  clearly  and  positively,  at  least  as  a  rigorous 
estimate  of  probabilities,  that  the  individual  conscious- 
ness is  indestructible  and  permanent,  even  when  it 
becomes  latent  in  subconsciousness. 

Every  new  life  necessarily  implies  a  temporary 
restriction  of  the  individuality.  Every  embodiment,  or 
representation  on  the  material  plane  implies  a  limitation 
of  all  psychic  activities  by  the  field  of  cerebral  action 
and  its  organic  memory. 

But  below  that  cerebral  memory,  the  profound 
memory  remains  indelible  and  permanent,  retaining  all  its 

305 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

past  acquisitions,  though  these  are  for  the  most  part 
cryptoid. 

This  has  been  demonstrated  and  there  is  no  need 
to  go  back  to  that  demonstration. 

From  the  point  of  view  treated  of  in  this  chapter, 
which  is  the  contrast  between  an  optimist  or  a  pessimist 
concept  of  the  universe,  we  have  only  to  ask  ourselves 
whether  the  limitation  of  being,  in  and  by  reason  of 
material  representation,  is  for  the  better  or  the  worse. 
We  do  not  doubt  that  it  is  for  the  better.  It  is  so  if 
we  consider  the  whole  being  in  his  past,  his  present, 
and  his  future. 

For  the  present,  ignorance  is  an  advantage.  It  is 
necessary  that  a  man  should  think  his  field  of  action 
limited  to  the  period  between  birth  and  death, 
and  that  he  should  be  ignorant  in  the  main  both 
of  his  anterior  acquisitions  and  of  his  latent 
capacities. 

To  begin  with,  the  fear  of  death  concurrently  with 
ignorance  of  the  real  position,  is  indispensable.  Without 
this  salutary  fear  a  man  would  not  exert  his  best  efforts 
tn  actual  life.  He  would  only  too  readily  look  for  change. 
Any  check,  or  disease  would  be  unendurable;  suicide 
would  be  of  daily  occurrence. 

Ignorance  of  anterior  acquisitions  is  not  less  indis- 
pensable. In  its  absence  the  man  would  have  an 
irresistible  inclination  to  work  always  in  the  same 
direction,  to  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  He 
would  hardly  bend  his  mind  to  new  tasks  involving  an 
increase  of  labour,  and  would  almost  inevitably  be  led 
into  a  one-sided  evolution  which  would  end  in  an 
abnormal  and  hypertrophied  specialisation. 

Ignorance  of  the  faculties  which  are  called  trans- 
cendental is  a  yet  more  imperative  necessity;  for  the 
regular,  normal,  and  daily  use  of  these  faculties  would 
virtually  eliminate  effort.  The  workings  of  instinct  are 
exceedingly  instructive  on  this  point.     Instinct  is  only 

306 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  lower  and  primary  form  of  intuition ;  like  the  latter 
it  implies  a  kind  of  divination. 

Now  what  do  we  see  in  the  comparative  psychology 
of  animals  ? 

That  wherever  instinct  predominates  it  has  arrested 
intellectual  evolution.  Insects  possess  marvellous 
instincts  which  they  obey  blindly.  The  insect  has 
evolved  perfectly  steadily,  but  its  evolution  has  led 
it  into  a  blind  alley  where  all  conscious  progress  seems 
absolutely  shut  out. 

On  the  other  hand,  consider  the  vertebrates.  In- 
fallible instinct  has  given  place  to  thought;  fallible 
indeed,  but  fruitful  in  that  it  implies  and  necessitates 
effort.  In  them  accordingly,  the  progress  towards 
consciousness  is  uninterrupted  and  allows  all  things  to 
hope.  That  which  is  true  of  instinct  is  still  more  true 
of  the  mysterious  faculties  which  are  independent  of 
time  and  space.  Imagine  a  man  who  could  avail  him- 
self of  these  faculties  in  daily  life,  exercising  at  will  the 
power  of  reading  the  thoughts  of  others,  of  vision  at  a 
distance,  and  of  lucidity.  Where  would  be  the  need 
for  reflection ;  why  should  he  calculate  the  effect  of  his 
actions,  foresee  or  strive  ?  He  would  make  no  errors 
but  also  no  efforts;  and  without  effort  there  is  no  pro- 
gressive consciousness.  Like  the  insect,  the  man 
would  become  but  a  marvellous  piece  of  mechanism. 

An  evolution  thus  impelled  would  not  have  resulted 
in  a  higher  degree  of  consciousness,  but  in  some  kind  of 
hypersensitive  somnambulism  allowing  of  man  knowing 
everything  without  understanding  anything:  the  super- 
man so  produced  would  have  been  a  kind  of  transcendental 
automaton.  At  the  present  stage  of  evolution  it  is 
therefore  not  merely  well,  but  indispensable,  that  the 
highest  faculties,  and  all  other  psychological  wealth 
accumulated  by  man  in  his  evolution  should  remain 
subconscious  and  latent.  Their  latency  does  not  prevent 
these  subconscious  faculties  from  playing  a  considerable, 

307 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

and  even  a  primary  part  in  man.  They  are  the  very 
foundation  of  his  being — they  make  its  essential  charac- 
teristics. Their  manifestations  are  sufficiently  latent 
not  to  impede  effort  while  sufficiently  active  to  aid  and 
guide  it. 

This  marvellous  equilibrium  is  rarely  perfect.  Most 
men  ignore  these  faculties  too  much,  and  leave  them 
lethargic.  Others  know  them  too  well;  they  suffer 
from  the  conscious  inability  to  realise  their  highest 
aspirations. 

This  suffering  is  the  price  paid  for  genius. 

Ignorance  of  the  past  is  as  great  a  blessing  as 
ignorance  of  the  present.  Only  the  ideally  evolved  being 
will  find  no  drawback  in  knowing  all  the  vast  accumula- 
tion of  experiences — ^sensations  and  emotions,  efforts  and 
struggles,  joys  and  pains,  loves  and  hates,  high  and 
low  impulses,  self-sacrificing  or  selfish  acts — ^all,  in 
fact,  which  has  gone  to  build  him  up  through  the  multiple 
personalities  which  have  each  specialised  in  some 
particular  way. 

If  the  commonplace  man  had  but  a  flash  of  this 
knowledge  he  would  be  dumbfounded  by  it.  His  present 
errors  and  anxieties  are  as  much  as  he  can  bear.  How 
could  he  endure  the  weight  of  past  troubles,  of  his  follies 
and  meannesses,  of  the  animal  passions  which  have 
swayed  him,  of  the  endless  monotony  of  commonplace 
lives,  the  regrets  for  privileged  existences,  and  the 
remorse  for  criminal  ones. 

Oblivion,  fortunately,  allows  hatreds  and  barren 
passions  to  die  down  and  equably  loosens  the  links 
which  bind  men  too  closely  together  and  limit  their 
freedom  of  action. 

Remembrance  of  the  past  could  but  impede  present 
effort. 

Ignorance  of  the  future  is  yet  more  indispensable 
and  salutary  in  the  lower  stages  of  the  evolution  of 
consciousness.    For  the  many,  this  ignorance  is  a  great 

308 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

blessing.  Their  mediocrity  is  fitted  to  the  conditions 
of  life  as  it  is,  they  are  adapted  to  its  petty  passions,  its 
mean  desires,  its  short  pleasures  and  its  long  procession 
of  suffering. 

Even  when  the  stammering  voice  of  Art  reaches 
them,  it  cannot  awaken  them  to  a  vision  or  an  idea  of 
a  higher  world.  They  find  it  quite  natural  (fortunately) 
to  live  in  a  world  of  strife  and  suffering,  and  thanks  to 
their  ignorance,  they  do  not  vainly  revolt  against  the 
inevitable.  Providentially,  they  find  it  normal  that  their 
activities  should  be  almost  entirely  taken  up  in  seeking 
maintenance  and  in  the  struggle  against  hostile  condi- 
tions. Their  interests  are  of  a  low  order,  like  the 
character  which  creates  them.  It  is  well  that  they 
should  have  no  other  outlook  than  that  of  present  effort; 
they  could  not  bear  the  prospect  of  efforts  to  which  they 
could  see  no  end. 

Even  for  the  select  few  ignorance  of  the  future  is 
a  benefit.  Without  this  unconsciousness  they  would 
suffer  more  by  seeing  humanity  and  life  as  they  are 
— the  scanty  results  of  so  much  effort,  the  seeming 
uselessness  of  so  much  pain .  How  small  a  thing  is  the  best 
that  has  yet  come  into  full  realisation  in  the  course  of 
human  evolution — the  ideal  charm  of  feminine  beauty, 
the  genius  of  the  thinker,  are  chained  to  the  base  and 
repugnant  functions  of  a  weak  body,  to  all  its  defects 
and  diseases.  Contentment  in  such  a  world  is  only 
consistent  with  ignorance  of  a  higher  world  of  light 
and  love.  Some  few,  very  few,  have  this  intuition 
more  or  less  clearly.  In  the  present  state  of  evolution 
they  are  not  privileged  beings.  The  sadness  of  the 
best  among  men  has  often  no  other  origin  than  a  glimpse 
from  the  unconscious  on  too  bright  a  future,  so  distant 
that  it  seems  but  an  empty  dream  .  .  .  confronted  with 
tangible  realities  all  that  remains  when  the  entrancing 
vision  fades  is  discouragement,  a  disdain  for  the  present, 
and  the  shadow  of  a  great  sadness  over  all  life. 

309  ^ 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

But  this  ignorance  which  holds  man  back  from 
knowledge  of  his  past,  his  present,  and  his  future,  does 
not  involve  pessimism;  it  is  part  of  necessary  and 
inevitable,  but  fruitful  evils. 

Moreover,  according  to  our  philosophy,  ignorance 
is  essentially  transitory  and  belongs  only  to  the  lower 
phases  of  evolution.  It  is  lessened  or  in  fitting  measure 
broken  through,  even  now  in  the  course  of  that  evolution, 
and  it  will  one  day  give  place  to  completed  and  perfected 
knowledge. 

If  it  is  true — as  everything  goes  to  prove — that 
bodily  life  implies  a  restriction  and  limitation  of  the 
conscious  individuality  in  a  definite  direction,  it  seems 
obvious  that  release  from  the  organism  should  extend 
the  limitations  of  that  individuality.  When  that  release 
takes  place,  the  Self  can  then  grasp  those  realities  which 
the  limitations  of  the  brain  now  hide  from  him,  in  the 
degree  that  his  evolutionary  level  and  his  acquired  con- 
sciousness permit  of.  That  release  from  limitations 
already  takes  place  by  metapsychical  decentralisation; 
and  it  should,  a  fortiori^  also  take  place  by  death.  Accord- 
ing to  all  probabilities  the  sequence  of  events  is  as 
follows : — 

For  animals,  and  men  of  very  low  grade,  the  phase 
of  existence  which  follows  on  death  is  short  and  dark. 
Bereft  of  the  support  of  the  physical  organs,  conscious- 
ness, still  ephemeral,  is  weakened  and  obscured.  The 
call  of  matter  asserts  itself  with  irresistible  power,  and 
the  mystery  of  re-birth  is  soon  brought  about. 

But  for  the  more  highly  evolved  man,  death  bursts 
the  narrow  circle  within  which  material  life  has 
imprisoned  a  consciousness  which  strained  against  the 
bounds  imposed  by  a  profession,  family,  and  country. 
He  finds  himself  carried  far  beyond  the  old  habits  of 
thought  and  memory,  the  old  loves  and  hatreds,  passions 
and  mental  habits. 

To  the  degree  that  his  evolutionary  level  permits, 

310 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

he  remembers  his  past  and  foresees  his  future.  He 
knows  the  road  by  which  he  has  travelled,  he  can  judge 
of  his  conduct  and  his  efforts.  Many  things  which,  in 
life,  appeared  to  him  very  important,  now  seen  from  a 
higher  point  of  view,  seem  small  and  petty. 

Great  joys  and  great  sorrows,  mental  storms  out  of 
all  proportion  to  their  causes,  the  passions  which  devastate 
a  life,  and  the  ambitions  which  consume  it — all  these  are 
reduced  to  their  true  values,  and  hold  but  a  very  small 
place  in  the  chain  of  conscious  remembrance. 

Some  of  the  links  with  the  past  are  easily  broken; 
they  pass  away  like  the  mists  of  dawn.  Some  are  strong; 
they  are  part  of  the  unbreakable  chain  of  destiny  and 
can  be  unwound  only  little  by  little.  This  time  out  of 
the  body  is  not  only  a  phase  of  recollection,  of  synthesis, 
and  of  self-judgment;  it  is  also  a  time  of  active  psycho- 
logical assimilation.  In  calm  consideration  the  fusion 
of  old  with  new  experiences  takes  place  and  the  Self 
identifies  itself  with  the  states  of  consciousness  which 
memory  has  stored  up  during  life. 

Such  assimilation  is  indispensable  to  unification  of 
individuality  and  to  harmony  of  soul.  As  we  have 
already  shown,  it  seems  to  be  the  fact  that  some  curious 
and  mysterious  disorders  of  personality  are  due  only 
to  defective  psychological  assimilation  anterior  to  the 
present  life,  and  to  a  decentralising  and  divergent 
tendency  among  mental  elements  ill-assimilated  by  the 
Self. 

In  fine,  the  successive  phases  of  organic  and  extra- 
organic  life  seem  to  play  distinct  and  complementary 
parts  in  evolution. 

Organic  life  shows  analytical  activity,  limited  to  a 
given  direction,  and  permitting  the  maximum  of  effort 
in  that  direction;  with  a  temporary  beclouding  of  all 
in  the  living  being  which  is  outside  the  immediate 
purpose  and  the  framework  of  present  life. 

To    extra-organic    life    pertains    synthetic    activity, 

311 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

comprehensive  vision,  the  work  of  mental  assimilation, 
and  preparation  for  fresh  effort.  The  relative  importance 
of  one  earth-life  in  the  series  of  existences  is  no  greater 
than  that  of  a  day  in  the  course  of  that  earth-life.  One 
life — one  day;  the  life  bears  much  the  same  ratio  to 
the  course  of  evolution  that  the  day  bears  to  a  single 
life.    They  are  analogues. 

There  are  good  days  and  bad  days;  good  lives  and 
bad  lives;  days  and  lives  which  are  profitable;  days 
and  lives  that  are  lost.  A  single  day  and  a  single  life 
cannot  be  appraised  apart  from  preceding  days  and 
lives :  they  form  a  chain  of  consequences.  No  one  limits 
his  labours  or  his  cares  exclusively  to  one  day  in  a  life. 
No  one  plans  the  work  of  a  day  nor  of  a  life  without 
reference  to  the  days  that  are  past,  and  to  those  that 
are  to  come.  It  is  the  same  with  our  lives — ^in  the 
interval  between  two  existences  the  Self  that  is  sufficiently 
evolved  prepares  its  plan  for  the  future.  Lives,  as  well 
as  days,  are  separated  one  from  another  by  a  period  of 
seeming  repose  which  is  nevertheless  one  of  useful 
assimilation  and  preparation;  and  as  on  waking  we  find 
many  problems  solved  as  if  by  magic,  so  it  is  at  the 
dawn  of  another  life.  The  first  steps  of  the  Self  seem 
to  be  guided;  it  walks  securely  as  if  led  by  a  hand  in 
the  path  which  it  has  indeed  chosen,  but  which,  once 
born,  it  follows  blindly. 

Thus,  from  one  existence  to  another,  the  Self  comes 
slowly  and  by  the  vast  accumulation  of  stored  and 
assimilated  experiences,  to  the  higher  phases  of  life 
that  are  reserved  to  the  complete  development  of  its 
consciousness — to  the  completed  consciousness  that 
realises  all. 

Ideally,  full  consciousness  should  extend  to  the 
present,  the  past,  and  the  future.  This  implies  a  species 
of  divination,  now  incomprehensible.  But  this  much 
we  can  logically  infer:  that  it  must  be  a  state  of  know- 
ledge of  the  Self  and  the  universe  sufficiently  extended 

512 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

to  restore  the  past  from  oblivion,  to  permit  the 
regular  and  normal  use  of  faculties  that  are  now  trans- 
cendent and  metapsychicj  and  to  allow  some  insight  into 
a  free  and  happy  evolution  enfranchised  at  last  from  the 
darkness  of  ignorance,  the  bonds  of  necessity,  and  the 
pangs  of  suffering. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    REALISATION    OF    SOVEREIGN    JUSTICE 

In  the  concept  of  palingenesis  the  ultimate  realisation  ? 
of  sovereign  justice  is  assured  with  absolute  and  mathe- 
matical certainty. 

The  individual  never  being  other  than  he  has  made 
himself  in  the  course  of  his  evolution  by  the  immense 
series  of  representations  he  has  gone  through,  it  follows 
that  everything  that  is  within  his  field  of  consciousness 
is  his  own  doing,  the  fruit  of  his  own  work,  his  own 
efforts,  his  own  sufferings,  and  his  own  joys. 

Every  act,  even  every  desire  and  inclination,  has 
an  inevitable  reaction  in  one  or  other  of  his  existences. 

This  is  the  consequential  interplay  of  inherent, 
fateful,  and  unavoidable  justice.  This  inherent  justice 
usually  begins  in  the  course  of  a  single  life  taken  by 
itself;  but  it  is  then  seldom  truly  equitable.  Regarded 
in  this  restricted  manner  justice  often  seems  fallible  and 
disproportioned. 

But  by  considering  a  long  chain  of  existences  it  is 
seen  to  be  mathematically  perfect.  The  balance  is  struck 
between  favourable  and  unfavourable  circumstance  and 
only  the  sure  results  of  his  conduct  remain  as  the  man's 
assets. 

This  inherent  justice  is  not  only  individual;  it  is 
also  Collective.  It  is  so  by  the  essential  solidarity  of  the 
individual  monads.  By  reason  of  this  essential  solidarity, 
the  reversions  of  consciousness  to  unconsciousness  are 
never  entirely  personal.  Conscious  acquisitions  and 
their  transmutation  into  capacities  are  necessarily  collec- 
tive. The  degree  to  which  this  is  so  does  not  lend  itself 
to  analysis,   but  is   none  the  less   certain.      Similarly, 

314 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

individual  acts  have  inevitable  though  undefinable 
reactions  on  the  conditions  of  all  other  lives.  A  certain 
general  collaboration  in  evolution  is  thus  assured,  by 
which  every  ejffbrt  that  conforms  to  or  opposes  the  moral 
law  has  a  collective  reaction  over  and  above  its  reaction 
on  the  individual. 

This  point  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasised. 
There  is  no  exclusively  individual  responsibility  for  any 
particular  act,  good  or  bad,  and  for  no  such  act  can 
an  exclusively  individual  warrant  be  pleaded. 

Everything  that  is  done  or  thought  for  good  or  evil; 
everything  that  each  one  feels  by  emotions  of  joy  or 
sorrow,  reacts  on  all  and  is  assimilated  by  all.  Therefore 
the  acts  of  an  individual  or  a  group,  of  a  family,  a  nation, 
or  a  race,  cannot  be  appraised  in  their  moral  or  social 
aspects  as  having  reference  only  to  that  individual  or  group. 

No  doubt  this  collective  solidarity  seems  continually 
lessened  as  we  pass  from  the  family  to  the  nation,  from 
the  nation  to  the  race,  from  the  race  to  humanity, 
and  from  humanity  to  the  entire  world ;  but  these 
diminishing  reactions,  as  seen  in  their  effects,  are  integral 
parts  in  the  actual  constituent  essence  of  things. 

Therefore  all  the  devices  of  selfishness  by  persons, 
families,  or  nations,  are  mere  aberration. 

This  great  law  of  solidarity  has  been  proclaimed 
by  philosophers  and  moralists  in  every  age,  but  has 
found  small  response.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  voice 
of  science  may  receive  a  better  hearing  and  have  more 
influence  on  suffering  humanity! 

The  concept  of  justice  inherent  in  palingenesis 
involves  great  and  far-reaching  consequences. 

From  the  metaphysical  and  religious  standpoint, 
it  abolishes  the  puerile  notions  of  supernatural  sanctions 
and  a  Divine  judgment.  The  least  that  can  be  said 
of  these  notions  is  that  they  are  useless  and  artificial. 

From  the  moralist  standpoint,  it  gives  a  solid  founda- 
tion  for   moral   {i.e,   idealist)    teaching.      Its   practical 

315 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

bearing  is  immediately  understood;  it  enjoins  before 
all  else,  work  and  effort;  not  isolated  effort,  the  selfish 
struggle  for  life,  but  co-operative  effort. 

All  the  lower  order  of  feelings — hatred,  the  temper 
of  revenge,  selfishness,  and  jealousy,  are  incompatible 
with  the  idea  of  solidarity  in  evolution  and  inherent 
justice.  The  man  who  has  attained  to  the  knowledge 
of  palingenetic  evolution  will  quite  naturally  avoid  any 
act  which  can  injure  another,  and  will  assist  him  to  the 
best  of  his  power. 

Trusting  to  the  internal  sanction  of  duty,  he  will  be 
able  to  forgive  misdeeds  against  himself,  and  will  look 
upon  the  foolish,  the  malicious,  and  the  criminal  as 
beings  on  a  lower  plane  or  as  sick  persons.  He  will 
know  how  to  resign  himself  to  natural  and  passing 
inequalities  which  are  the  inevitable  result  of  the  law  of 
individual  endeavour  in  evolution,  but  will  do  his  best 
to  remove  the  excessive  inequalities,  the  artificial 
divisions,  and  the  mischievous  prejudices  of  mankind. 
He  will  extend  kindness  and  pity  to  animals,  and  save 
them,  as  far  as  may  be,  from  suffering  and  death. 

Nevertheless,  some  moral  objections  have  been  made 
to  the  idea  of  palingenesis. 

It  has  been  alleged  that  oblivion  of  previous  existences 
must  suppress  the  conviction  of  moral  causes  and  effects. 
How  can  that  be  ?  Oblivion  of  a  fact  does  not  alter 
the  consequences  of  that  fact. 

Moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  the  forgetfulness  is 
relative  and  temporary,  pertaining  to  the  cerebral 
memory  only;  it  does  not  touch  the  subconscious  memory 
pertaining  to  the  true  Self.  The  oblivion  is  but  pro- 
visional. The  whole  of  its  past  belongs  to  the  Self, 
and  though  now  latent  in  the  higher  consciousness,  it 
will  some  day  be  fully  and  regularly  accessible  to  the 
man. 

After  all  it  matters  little  that  man,  during  his  earth- 
life  should  be  in  ignorance  of  the  deeper   reasons  for 

316 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

the  conditions  in  which  he  finds  himself.  He  has  full 
responsibility  and  has  to  take  its  full  consequences. 

Another  objection  which  has  been  alleged  against 
the  palingenetic  theory  is  the  existence  of  pain  among 
creatures  too  backward  in  evolution  to  have  any  know- 
ledge of  moral  causes.  What  crime  can  a  horse,  beaten 
by  a  drunken  brute,  or  a  dog  tortured  by  vivisection, 
have  committed  in  a  previous  existence  ? 

In  this  reasoning  there  is  a  fundamental  error.  Evil 
is  not  necessarily  justified  by  the  past.  It  is  more  often 
the  consequence  of  the  low  general  level  of  the  present 
evolutionary  state.  To  see  in  the  sufferings  of  a  creature 
nothing  but  the  consequences  of  its  previous  acts,  is 
grossly  illogical.  What  may  be  affirmed  is  that  the 
real  knowledge  of  good  and  evil — the  moral  sanction — 
arises  from  inherent  justice  and  is  always  proportionate 
to  the  degree  of  free  choice  which  the  creature  enjoys, 
that  is  to  say,  to  its  moral  and  intellectual  level.^ 

Responsibility  for  their  acts  can  only  be  attributed 
to  beings  who  have  reached  a  high  degree  of  evolution. 
The  higher  the  evolution  the  greater  the  responsibility; 
for  their  considered  conduct  will  have  more  and  more 
influence  on  their  progress  and  on  their  conditions  of 
life  according  to  the  measure  of  their  advancement. 

A  last  objection,  also  of  a  moral  nature,  has  been 
made  to  the  idea  of  justice  inherent  in  the  idea  of  palin- 
genesis :  it  is,  that  if  an  act  is  not  followed  by  a  rigorously 
similar  retribution,  there  is  no  justice,  but  only  half- 
justice.  If  it  is  followed  by  rigorously  similar  retribution 
there  can  be  no  evolutionary  progress,  but  only  a  linked 
series  from  evil  by  evil  to  evil,  which  amounts  to  an 
assertion  of  unending  reactions  of  evil  in  a  vicious  logical 
circle. 

This  objection  is  really  only  a  matter  of  words. 
Absolute  justice  can  perfectly  well  be  imagined  as  fulfilled 
by  retributions  which  fit  the  crime  though  perhaps  are 

*  See  L'Etvg  Subconscient. 


From  the  "Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

not  equal  to  it.  Inherent  justice  clearly  implies  wide 
margins  of  incidence.  A  bad  action  will  not  be  automati- 
cally shown  to  be  such  by  a  similar  bad  action  done  by 
another  against  the  first  sinner;  nor  by  any  kind  oi lex 
talionis  which  would  be  none  the  less  odious  for  being 
a  natural  result. 

Action  and  reaction  are  always  equal,  but  by  the 
very  fact  of  evolution  the  reaction  becomes  refined  and 
spiritualised  in  proportion  to  the  progress  of  conscious- 
ness. It  passes  from  material  to  spiritual  penalties;  and 
repentance,  remorse,  and  efforts  to  repair  the  injury 
or  to  amend  the  life,  take  the  place  of  physical  retribution. 

Thus  the  concept  of  evolution  by  palingenesis  gives 
us  the  assurance  of  the  ultimate  sovereignty  of  justice 
as  it  also  assures  the  development  of  sovereign  conscious- 
ness. It  reveals  in  the  universe  an  orderly  harmony  under 
seeming  incoherence,  and  absolute  justice  under  seeming 
injustice.  Thus  understood,  this  concept  is  so  beautiful 
and  satisfying  that  we  can  say  with  M.  Ch.  Lancelin: 
*  If  this  had  not  been  instituted  by  God,  if  it  had  not 
been  the  essential  reality,  then  man  would  have  shown 
himself  greater  and  better  than  God  by  the  mere  fact 
of  having  imagined  it.'  ^ 

^  Charles  Lancelin  :  La  Reincarnation, 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    REALISATION    OF    THE    SOVEREIGN    GOOD 

In  evolution  as  thus  understood,  the  evidence  for  the 
progressive  realisation  of  sovereign  good  is  over- 
whelming. 

Rationalistic  pessimism  follows  naturally  on  a  view 
of  the  universe,  which,  being  only  partial,  is  also  false. 
A  more  extended  and  complete  view  leads  to  the  quite 
opposite  conclusion  of  optimist  idealism. 

This  synthetic  outlook  solves,  once  and  for  all,  the 
problem  of  evil. 

In  the  first  place,  the  definite,  positive,  and  absolute 
character  attributed  to  evil  is  inconsistent  with  the 
whole  palingenetic  idea.  Evil  has  only  a  relative  meaning 
and  is  always  reparable. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  greatest  of  seeming  evils — 
Death. 

Not  only  is  Death  no  longer  *  the  King  of  Terrors,' 
but  it  is  no  longer  the  *  curse  *  which  man,  limited  by 
the  physical  body  and  blinded  by  the  illusion  of  matter, 
has  made  it. 

In  palingenetic  evolution  death  is  an  evil  only  when 
it  is  premature  and  traverses  or  retards  individual 
evolution. 

Intercalated  between  successive  lives,  and  coming  at 
its  due  time  when  the  organism  has  given  all  it  can  give, 
Death  is  the  great  minister  of  orderly  evolution.  As 
has  been  already  explained,  the  individual  is  thereby 
afforded  many  successive  fields  'of  action,  thus  avoiding 
a  one-sided  development  of  consciousness.  Death  has 
also  another  function  not  less  useful,  though  the  blindness 
of  man  generally  refuses  to  understand  its  necessity  or 

319 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

even  revolts  against  it;  it  breaks  the  links  that  would 
otherwise  keep  him  within  the  associations  of  this,  the 
single  life  he  has  last  quitted  and  within  the  limitations 
of  which  he  has  last  received  impressions. 

Doubtless  this  rupture  is  painful;  it  cuts  him  off 
roughly  from  his  customary  habits  and  affections;  but 
this  relative  and  reparable  sacrifice  is  indispensable  to 
progress. 

The  rupture,  moreover,  is  far  from  being  always 
an  evil,  for  while  it  deprives  him  of  his  power  of  action 
for  good,  it  also  removes  him  from  occasions  of  jealousy, 
hatred,  disease,  and  impotence,  or  even  from  an  environ- 
ment in  which  his  development  is  impeded.  It  obliges 
him  to  relinquish  along  with  the  worn-out  body,  the 
habits  which  have  become  a  sterile  routine. 

Another  seeming  evil  of  the  same  kind  as  death  is 
the  ignorance  by  incarnate  man  of  his  real  position  and 
his  oblivion  of  past  lives.  Like  death  this  ignorance 
and  oblivion  are  essential  conditions  of  evolutionary 
progress. 

What  is  true  of  death  and  ignorance  is  true  of  all  evils. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasised  that  under  the 
palingenetic  scheme,  evil  loses  the  absolute  and  irreparable 
character  which  makes  it  so  unbearable.  By  the  light 
of  this  idea  the  earth — that  vale  of  pain  and  tears — ^takes 
on  quite  another  aspect. 

Doubtless  pain  is  still  present  everywhere,  but 
permanent  pain  has  vanished.  There  are  no  more 
hopeless  disasters.  As  there  is  no  annihilation  so  also 
there  is  no  final  evil  in  palingenetic  evolution.  There 
are  evil  lives  as  there  are  bad  days  in  a  single  life;  but 
in  the  total,  good  and  evil  fortune  fairly  balance  and 
are  more  or  less  equal  for  all. 

Henceforward  the  cause  and  the  function  of  evil 
is  perfectly  understandable.  Evil  does  not  arise  from 
the  will,  nor  the  impotence,  nor  the  want  of  foresight 
of  a  responsible  Creator. 

320 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

Nor  is  it  the  result  of  a  Fall. 

It  is  the  inevitable  accompaniment  of  awaking 
consciousness.  The  efforts  required  for  the  transition 
from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness  cannot  but  be 
painful.  Chaos,  gropings,  struggle,  suffering — ^all  are 
the  consequences  of  primitive  ignorance  and  of  the 
effort  to  leave  it  behind. 

Evolutionary  theory  is  only  the  statement  of  these 
gropings,  these  struggles,  and  these  sufferings:  and 
if  evolution  has  its  foundations  in  unconsciousness,  in 
ignorance,  and  in  evil,  its  summit  is  in  light,  in  know- 
ledge, and  in  happiness. 

Evil,  in  short,  is  but  the  measure  of  inferiority;  alike 
for  worlds  and  for  the  living  beings  they  contain.  In 
the  lower  phases  of  their  evolution  it  is  the  price  of  this 
supreme  good — the  acquisition  of  consciousness. 

As  evil  is  strictly  provisional,  we  can  form  some  idea 
of  the  future  good  which  the  higher  phases  of  evolution 
have  in  store.  In  the  first  place  the  idea  of  annihilation 
will  have  disappeared.  Death  will  no  longer  be  feared 
either  for  ourselves  or  for  those  we  love.  It  will  be 
looked  upon  as  we  look  upon  rest  at  the  end  of  day — 
a  preparation  for  the  activities  of  the  morrow. 

There  will  be  no  reason  to  desire  it  prematurely, 
for  life  will  show  a  great  predominance  of  occasions  for 
happiness  and  a  diminution  of  occasions  for  pain. 
Disease  will  be  vanquished,  accidents  will  be  rare;  old 
age  will  no  longer  devastate  and  poison  existence  with 
its  infirmities,  but  instead  of  coming  as  it  now  does  even 
before  full  maturity,  it  will  come  only  in  the  closing 
years,  leaving  physical  and  intellectual  strength,  health, 
and  energy  untouched  up  to-  the  end. 

In  proportion  to  the  development  of  consciousness, 
the  organism  will  be  perfected  and  idealised  if  not 
actually  transformed.  Physical  beauty  will  be  the  rule, 
though  with  diversities  of  type  that  will  exclude  all 
sameness  and  monotony. 

Z2\ 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

The  causes  of  pain  due  to  nature,  to  vital  and 
physiological  necessities,  to  social  conditions  only  worthy 
of  savages,  will  be  greatly  reduced  under  progress  of 
every  kind. 

Moral  suffering  also  will  diminish  in  frequency  and 
prevalence.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  an  evolved  humanity 
subject  to  the  numberless  troubles  which  are  now  due 
to  hatred,  jealousy,  and  love.  Love  will  be  what  it 
ought  to  be — a  source  of  joy  only;  it  is  now  the  greatest 
source  of  pain  and  too  often  resembles  the  worst  mental 
diseases. 

The  sufferings  which  have  been  called  the  malady 
of  thought,  will  disappear  by  the  single  fact  that 
humanity  will  have  a  clear  view  of  its  own  destiny 
and  purpose,  and  of  those  of  the  universe. 

Concurrently  with  the  lessened  causes  of  suffering 
there  will  be,  naturally  and  inevitably,  an  accession  of 
causes  for  happiness. 

The  development  of  intuition  and  consciousness,  of 
psychic  and  metapsychic  faculty,  of  the  aesthetic  and 
moral  sense  will  multiply  tenfold  the  emotions  of  joy 
and  will  make  possible  a  harvest  of  contentment  of 
which  we  can  as  yet  scarcely  form  a  notion. 

The  realisation  of  sovereign  good,  in  a  word,  will 
necessarily  and  inevitably  accompany  the  realisation  of 
sovereign  consciousness  and  sovereign  justice. 


CONCLUSION 

If  now,  at  the  end  of  our  labours,  we  cast  a  backward 
glance  over  the  path  we  have  travelled,  we  shall  find 
additional  grounds  for  trust  in  an  optimist  interpretation 
of  the  universe,  and  in  the  truth  of  the  interpretation 
whose  main  outlines  v/e  have  given. 

One  single  hypothesis — that  of  an  essential  dynamo- 
psychism  objectified  in  representations  and  passings  by  those 
representations,  from  unconsciousness  to  consciousness,  suffices 
to  explain  everything,  with  no  other  limitations  than 
those  natural  to  the  faculties  we  now  actually  possess. 

Let  us  look  back  on  what  this  hypothesis  allows 
of:— 

In  Physiology,  by  the  demonstrated  thesis  of  a 
centralising  and  directing  dynamism,  it  explains  the 
building  up  of  the  organism,  its  specific  form,  its  functions 
its  maintenance,  its  repair,  its  embryonic  changes,  the 
laws  of  heredity,  extra-corporeal  dynamic  action,  the 
phenomena  of  exteriorisation  and  ideoplastic  materiali- 
sation. 

In  Psychology,  by  demonstration  of  a  superior 
psychism  independent  of  cerebral  function  and  by 
distinguishing  the  Self  from  states  of  consciousness,  it 
gives  a  clear  interpretation  of  the  complexities  of  men- 
tality and  differentiates  between  consciousness  and 
unconsciousness;  it  explains  the  enigmas  which  arise 
from  dissociations  of  personality,  the  various  modes 
of  subconscious  psychism,  innate  proclivities,  crypto- 
psychism,  cryptomnesia,  inspiration,  genius,  instinct,  and 
intuition.  In  interprets  hypnotism,  the  supernormal, 
mediumship,  action  from  mind  to  mind,  telepathy  and 
lucidity.    It  even  gives  a  clue  to  neuropathic  states  and 

323 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

essential  dementia,  states  whose  obscure  pathology 
has  been  the  reproach  of  medical  science. 

In  the  natural  sciences  it  reveals  the  primordial 
and  essential  factor  of  evolution  and  relegates  to  their 
proper  places  the  classical  factors  of  selection  and 
adaptation.  It  explains  the  origin  of  species  and  dis- 
entangles the  laws  of  natural  from  those  of  acquired 
finality. 

In  philosophy,  it  gives  an  interpretation  of  the 
universe  and  of  the  individual,  of  their  destiny  and 
their  purpose,  which  covers  all  the  facts,  disencumbered 
of  verbalism  and  abstractions.  It  sketches  out  the 
demonstration  of  a  great  metaphysical  hypothesis  on 
the  nature  of  things. 

To  the  problem  of  evil — ^that  stone  of  stumbling  to 
all  theologies — ^it  brings  a  solution  which  is  simple, 
clear,  and  fully  satisfying.  While  showing  the  individual 
the  causes  of  his  sufferings,  it  warrants  his  hopes  of 
justice  and  happiness,  and  affirms  their  realisation 
by  the  unlimited  development  of  undying  conscious- 
ness. 

Of  course  in  all  these  explanations  and  demonstrations 
only  the  main  outline  of  a  general  synthesis  is  to  be 
looked  for.  An  immense  mass  of  detail  remains  to  be 
investigated,  and  the  whole  of  the  analytical  work  still 
remains  to  be  done.  But  this  analysis,  which  seems  at 
present  to  be  beyond  human  powers,  will  be  facilitated 
by  the  general  ideas  laid  down. 

Once  the  general  doctrine  of  the  transition  from 
the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious  is  systematically 
established,  it  will  be,  like  the  clue  of  Ariadne,  a  slender 
guide  but  a  sure  one. 

Doubtless  the  great  metaphysical  enigmas  still 
remain  unexplained,  but  at  least  the  illusion  of  *  the 
unknowable  *  is  at  an  end. 

The  human  mind  knows  its  weakness,  but  it  also 
knows  its   potentialities.      It  will   no  longer  seek  the 

324 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

answer  to  these  enigmas  from  an  intuition  that  is  neces- 
sarily limited  and  fallible,  not  in  puerile  '  initiations,* 
nor  in  obsolete  dogmas.  It  will  await  the  complete 
answers  from  the  continuous  development  of  conscious- 
ness. It  knows  that  there  will  come  a  time  when  this 
consciousness,  grown  to  its  full  stature,  will  be  able 
to  transcend  all  its  limitations,  to  attain  to  what  is  now 
inaccessible,  to  understand  what  is  now  incomprehensible 
— the  thing  in  itself — the  Infinite — and  God. 

For  the  present  and  henceforward  the  mind  may 
find  in  this  sketch  of  a  scientific  philosophy  a  satisfaction 
as  yet  unknown,  for  this  outline  results  from  a  calculation 
of  -pr oh  abilities  based  on  facts^  and  in  accord  with  all  the 
facts. 

It  seems  impossible  that  the  concurrence  of  so  many 
facts  should  result  in  an  error  in  generalisation,  that 
so  many  well-established  and  irrefutable  premises  should 
lead  to  a  false  conclusion. 

As  Schopenhauer  wrote: — 

*  The  theory  which  can  decipher  the  relations 
between  the  world  and  all  things  that  it  contains, 
should  find  the  warrant  of  its  truth  in  the  unity  so 
established  between  the  many  different  natural 
phenomena — a  unity  which  is  not  apparent  apart 
from  that  theory.  When  we  have  to  deal  with 
an  inscription  whose  alphabetical  characters  are 
unknown,  we  make  successive  trials  until  we 
reach  a  combination  that  gives  intelligible  words  and 
coherent  sentences.  No  doubt  then  remains  that 
the  decipherment  is  correct,  for  it  is  impossible  to 
suppose  that  the  unity  established  among  the  written 
signs  could  be  due  to  chance,  or  could  come  about 
by  assigning  any  other  value  to  the  letters.  In  the 
same  way  the  reading  of  the  world-cipher  should 
carry  its  own  proof.  It  should  shed  its  equal  light 
on  all  terrestrial  phenomena,  and  bring  the  most 

325 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

heterogeneous  into  accord,  so  that  all  contradictions, 
even  between  the  most  diverse,  disappear. 

'  This  intrinsic  proof  is  the  criterion  of  inter- 
pretation,* 

Like  Schopenhauer,  we  demand  for  our  book  the 
test  of  this  criterion.  It  is  indeed  the  logical  sequel 
to  his  work,  and  the  extension  of  his  theories  by  adapta- 
tion to  all  the  new  facts.  We  have  made  no  essential 
change  in  his  philosophy,  and  we  bring  to  it  only  the 
sketch  of  a  scientific  demonstration  of  its  truth.  We 
offer  it  as  the  natural  complement  to  that  philosophy 
as  a  readjustment  which  modern  discoveries  render 
obligatory. 

Thus  understood,  our  book,  ^From  the  Unconscious 
to  the  Conscious.^''  could  necessarily  be  no  more  than  a 
ground-plan,  a  plan  which  will  need  many  amendments 
before  the  superstructure  is  complete.  But  it  claims 
to  indicate,  and  give  a  forecast  of  that  which  once 
completed  will  be  a  monument  of  scientific  philosophy 
by  the  exactitude  of  its  proportions,  the  harmony  of 
its  general  effect  and  its  own  intrinsic  beauty. 

This  beauty  and  harmony  are  the  symbols  of  Truth 
and  hold  out  a  greater  promise  than  comfort  of  mind 
and  heart:  they  carry  more  than  a  scientific  or  meta- 
physical satisfaction;  they  minister  to  deep  and  intense 
religious  conviction  in  the  best  meaning  of  those  words, 

*  The  special  religion  of  the  philosopher,'  says 
Averroes,  *  is  in  the  study  of  that  which  is ;  for  the 
highest  worship  he  can  render  to  God  is  to  seek  the 
knowledge  of  His  works  which  leads  us  to  know- 
ledge of  Himself  in  all  His  fullness.  In  the  eyes 
of  God  that  is  the  noblest  of  pursuits;  while  the 
most  debased  is  to  tax  with  error  and  vain  presump- 
tion him  who  renders  to  the  Deity  a  worship  nobler 

326 


From  the  Unconscious  to  the  Conscious 

than  any  other,  and  venerates  Him  by  this  religion 
which  is  the  best  of  all/ 

Under  the  aegis  of  these  words  I  offer  my  book  with 
confidence  to  believers,  to  philosophers,  and  to  men  of 
science  alike.  It  disregards  all  differences  of  opinion 
and  method,  and  appeals  to  all  who  have  at  heart  a 
love  of  the  Ideal. 

Taourirt — ^Paris, 
1915-1918. 


APPENDIX 

Ths  photographs  here  reproduced  give  a  very  clear  idea 
of  the  processus  of  materialisations  described  in  the 
second  part  of  Book  I.  Chapter  II.  on  the  problems  of 
supernormal  physiology. 

I  wish  to  draw  special  attention  to  No.  7.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  that  I  have  obtained;  and 
was  taken  during  the  formation  and  prior  to  the  terminal 
phase.  The  eyes  are  perfectly  materialised  and  very 
expressive.  Other  parts  of  the  face,  and  more  especially 
the  lower  portions  are  far  from  being  as  complete.  A 
thick  rudiment  of  substance  from  the  original  *  cord  *  is 
still  attached  to  the  corner  of  the  lips.  The  features 
are  crossed  by  streaks,  some  of  which  are  disposed 
geometrically;  these  indicate  the  centres  of  force  for 
materialisation.  They  may  be  compared  to  the  nervures 
of  a  leaf. 

A  mass  of  beautiful  dark  hair,  of  which  a  tress  passes 
between  the  neck  and  the  rudiment  above-mentioned, 
is  not  visible  against  the  black  background,  but  is  quite 
visible  on  a  stereoscopic  plate  which  I  was  able  to  secure. 

This  fine  materialisation  took  place  under  my  eyes 
and  I  could  follow  its  whole  development. 

G.  Geley. 


■*  'a  -o  .i: 
o   a   n   c 


7.  Knlargement  ot  No.  5,  taken  with  another  camera.  1  he  materialisation  01 
the  upper  portion  of  the  face  and  of  the  eyes  is  more  perfect  than  the  lower  portion. 
The  photograph  does  not  show  the  hair  well:  this  was  abundant;  the  tress  between 
the  rudiment  of  substance  and  the  neck  does  not  show  up  we'' 


I  he  same,  a  few  moments  later,  above  and  on  the 
right  of  the  medium  at  the  opening  of  the  curtain. 
(Enlargement.) 


1 3.  Female  head,  evolving  round  the  medium.  (Formed 
very  slowly  u  .der  my  eyes  by  gradual  organisation  in  a  mist 
of  the  substance.  1  he  white  veil  was  formed  at  the  same 
time  as  the  head.) 


14.  The  same,  a  moment  later. 


I ;.  The  same,  in  another  position. 


1 6.    I'hc  same,  slightly  masked  by  the  head  of  one  of  the  assistants  at  the 
experiment. 


17.    I'he  same,  from  another  standpoint. 


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